Jacob Burns and the Order of the Algorithm
by MadamHyjinks
Summary: War never changes. More than 200 years after the end of the world and Jacob Burns knows this better than anyone. Once a decorated Knight of the Brotherhood, he now lives in disgrace among the scavengers of Goodneighbor. Ever since the Brotherhood had fallen, he'd been a wanted man. Wanted by Diamond City, by the Minutemen, and most of all… by his own kin who call him traitor.
1. Prologue: October 23, 2077

**Prologue**

* * *

October 23, 2077

5:37 AM

Dr. Isaac Astor tore through his study in the early morning darkness, his precious notes and prototypes littered the floor like so much detritus after a storm. He frantically grabbed the most valuable items from their shelves and shoved them unceremoniously into his suitcase.

The bombs were coming. Of course, he had known that for some time. The higher ups had been given a day's notice to report to the secret vault hidden under the plains of Texas, but the last flight out had left over an hour ago, and he had bigger things to worry about than being vaporized in an atomic blast.

For years he'd worked with Vault-Tec, even before it had become an extension of the government. He was one of their top scientists, with a family name that could open even the most guarded of doors. Back in his early 20's, he had interned with the famous Stanislaus Braun, which in turn had led to a long partnership and a high ranking position in R&D, at least until recently. Of course, a lot had happened recently. Dr. Astor cast a sidewise glance towards the telephone. The receiver still dangled from its cord where he had left it, the dial tone humming in tune to the static of his panicking mind.

They were coming for him.

He wasn't even sure who "they" would be. He'd betrayed so many of his friends in recent months, it could be anyone really. Vault-Tec, the government, RobCo had a personal grudge, and then there was Big Mountain. He'd visited with restricted access some years ago, but what had seemed like an astonishing opportunity to meet the most renowned and brilliant minds of our age, ended with him waking up naked in the desert with three weeks of his memory lost in the Mojave dust. It was a long shot, but anything was possible right now. The world was ending.

Just then, the door slammed open. The doctor fumbled with his pistol as he dove for the floor, but too late. A shot rang out and a searing pain ripped through his side, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.

A long trench coat ghosted along the floor as polished wingtips came into view. A man towered over him with a briefcase in one hand and a revolver in the other, his face half hidden beneath a fedora. Dr. Astor looked on helplessly as the man kicked his pistol, his last line of defense, far across the room. The man turned and took a seat behind the mahogany desk before removing his hat and folding his hands neatly over the gun in his lap.

"I must apologize for the intrusion my good doctor, but there are matters of utmost urgency that must be discussed." He was paler than death, with eyes that pierced through him like cold steel. This was a man without mercy.

"W-who sent you?" The doctor struggled to stand, but one look from those eyes and he slumped back against the bookcase.

"An irrelevant question, doctor. You are perfectly aware of the contracts you have broken, and with whom. I am simply here to take recourse on their behalf, after I secure any remaining assets of course. Simply put, I am here to collect. Which leads me to a far more appropriate question, where is the conduit?"

"I'm certain I have no idea what you are talking about-" The man grabbed a hold of the doctor's injured side and dug his thumb deep into the fresh wound. The doctor's screams echoed throughout the empty house.

"Project Omega," the man said as he wiped the blood from his hand and reached into his briefcase to pull out a dossier. He began to read.

"A top secret installation established and constructed under the oversight of doctors Braun and Astor. Three months ago that operation suddenly ceased, and all contact with Dr. Astor with it. Said party failed to produce a key element to that installation as per his agreement. I am here to collect that missing element, this Conduit, and reinstate that facility by any means necessary."

"If you know all that, then you know the bombs are on their way. In a few short hours, we'll all be reduced to nuclear waste! Why waste your time with me?" The man ignored him as he got up and walked around the desk.

"You have a daughter, do you not?" He said almost casually as he lifted a photograph from the mantlepiece. A young woman smiled out from behind a cascade of curly blonde hair.

"She isn't here," the doctor said quickly.

"No, of course not. She's in a vault that you constructed with stolen money and stolen technology. Two cryopods, state of the art environmental monitoring system, Mach-IV turrets, and enough power to fuel life support for over 200 years. No expense spared for you and your own, even as you resign the greater population to certain death."

It was true. Dr. Astor had designed many of the vaults that would subject countless innocents to vicious experiments and excruciating death, all for the so-called "greater good", but in reality only served the upper echelons of the Vault-Tec corporation and the government that funded them.

"A man will do anything for the sake of self-preservation…and for the ones he loves," the doctor spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.

"How very noble… for a murderer." The slightest of smiles stretched the man's skin like stiff leather.

"I may be a killer, but I hold no such delusions." He let the picture fall through his fingers, and the glass shattered to pieces against the floor. Dr. Astor narrowed his eyes.

"I destroyed it," Dr. Astor spat,"I threw the Conduit into the fire, Project Omega will never be complete!"

"Really? I find that hard to believe. After all that blood, sweat, and tears, especially all the blood. No, you've shown the lengths you are willing to go to protect that which you hold most dear-" The man stopped, and another smile stretched wide across that inhuman face.

"It's in the vault, isn't it?" Dr. Astor said nothing.

"We will find it, my good doctor, rest assured of that. The Order will not be denied what is rightfully theirs," he said as he opened his briefcase. Dr. Astor let out a gasp as he saw the long, sharp instruments inside.

"We may not have as much time as I'd like, but you'll find I can be very persuasive." He said as he pulled out a knife and a rusty pair of pliers. "Now, as you and I both know, data is the only thing that really matters anymore. So do try to give good feedback on how we're doing, won't you? "

A few hours later, the man emerged from the manor overlooking Boston, his fedora low over his face and his trench coat concealing the fresh bloodstains on his slacks. He looked up at the crimson sky and basked in its glow.

This world's time was up.

The stage was set, the players arranged. Soon, the Master's plan would be complete. All that remained was to light the flame; a single spark to start the cleansing fire.

The man took out his portable computer, better known as a Pip-Boy, and logged in the coordinates he'd extracted from the good doctor. He set the message to transmit straight to the personal computer of every government official and major CEO in the country, and then the real war could begin.

Such a shame he would have to miss all the fun, but he had learned after decades in the service of the Order, to trust in his Master. The Algorithm would be complete, the prophecy at long last fulfilled. He smiled at the thought.

After all, a new world was just beginning.


	2. Ch 1: End of the Line

**Chapter 1: End of the Line**

* * *

 _I always knew it would end like this._

Out of caps, out of friends, and out of time. My debts were finally being called in.

The Third Rail was already empty by the time I took a seat at the bar, the former subway station was filled with the lingering stench of human sweat and irradiated booze, with just a touch of desperation only the Wasteland knew. I ordered a whiskey, tall and neat, and kept one hand on the hilt of my trusty forty-five. This was Goodneighbor after all, home to every kind of scumbag in the Commonwealth. Of course, you had your run of the mill gangsters, scavvers, and jet-lagged chem-heads. Those were a dime a dozen in the Wasteland, but then there were the ghouls, the freaks, and what I suspected were synths intermingling with every other self-proclaimed badass crawling through these alleyways. I kept an eye on the stairwell leading to the entrance. This was my last chance for a real score, big enough to pay my way outta this mess.

Every black-listed job in the Greater Commonwealth area went through one man, the self-appointed mayor of this rogue's paradise, John Hancock. Whether you had hot merchandise to push or you were working a hit (or as the locals would say, a "clean up" job), you could bet that Hancock knew about it and was getting his cut. To make matters worse, his second-in-command was the meanest slab of a woman I'd ever laid eyes on. Cold and calculating, she'd only ever known a passion for two things in this world: John Hancock and fire. Specifically, lighting his enemies on fire. Find yourself on Hancock's short list and you might wake up waste deep in the Charles with a mini nuke strapped to your chest.

Not that it was anything I couldn't handle, dying was all in a day's work for a Wastelander like me. Nothing like a quick dirt nap to liven up the spirits, as I always say.

How things change… a couple of months can feel like a lifetime to the idealistic young Knight that finds himself on the run and at the mercy of the very monsters he once swore to wipe out. I was a different man back then, when _The Prydwen_ first flew into Boston harbor. I felt unstoppable, full of fire and righteous conviction. I was a soldier; a guardian of the sacred technologies, a protector of the Wasteland, a paragon of truth, honor, and justice.

I was a jackass.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I sure wasn't faring any better since I'd left the Brotherhood (as if I'd had a choice in the matter). A man's name is all he really has in this world, and now, mine was as good as "traitor".

"Well I'll be damned."

A graveled voice broke my reverie and the man I'd been waiting walked in looking like the Night of the Living Dead in a revolutionary petticoat and tricorn hat. Hancock was a ghoul with a fondness for the past, like so many others in the post-apocalyptic world. Open wounds festered with necrosis and flesh hung from his face as if he'd just burst out of the graveyard looking for a buffet of brains, like something straight out of the late night double feature, but that was just the radiation for you. Guess the "future" the eggheads thought up came with all kinds of side effects they hadn't seen coming.

"If it ain't the fallen son of the Brotherhood himself, Jacob Burns. And here I thought you'd be halfway to the Mojave by now. Gotta say, I'm impressed. Hey Fahrenheit, looks like I owe you 20 caps," he nodded to the red-head leaning against a pillar near the entrance. The woman lit a cigarette and took a long drag, as if she were waiting for a train that was 210 years too late. You might believe it too, if not for the full combat armor, vicious scars and the _Fatman_ strapped to her back. The rest of Hancock's goons crowded into the narrow tunnel after them, submachine guns locked and loaded. Hancock meant business, and he intended to show it.

He slid into the seat next to mine and called over the handy-bot bartender. He pointed to my glass and, with a flurry of mechanical hands, the bot produced an identical one. Hancock swirled the liquid around for a moment, before downing it in one go.

"Ah, that's good drink Burnsie, I know because you're buying. So, you asked me here for a reason I take it? I assume you've got my money, after all I'd hate to let Fahrenheit here get out the flame thrower and give your name a new meaning." A round of laughter erupted throughout the room as Hancock waved for another drink.

"Just another pawn, ready to be taken for the good of the king," the woman replied through a puff of smoke.

"Not the king, Fahr, the _mayor_. This here's a democracy. The initial ballot may have been a bit one-sided, but last I checked Washington ran unopposed, and if that's what the people want…"

"For the people!" The cry rang out from every corner and I started to regret my decision to meet him on his own turf, but what was one last gamble when you've got nothing left to lose? I leaned in close and smiled.

"I've got something better than caps."

"Oh do you now? Tell me another one Burns, I love a little gallows humor."

"How's this for funny?" I said as I slapped a map down onto the bar. I pointed to the north where a gear, the universal symbol for vault, was stamped over a pre-war mine. A note was scrawled next to it, signed and dated two days before the bombs had dropped. It read: _Top Secret installment, est. val $46.5 mill._

"Well well well, isn't this something?" Hancock laughed as he picked up the map, but one look at the genuine Vault-Tec logo and his tune changed faster than the weather in the Glowing Sea. Suddenly he was hunched over, scouring every detail of the map for any sign of fraud. A smile tugged at my lips as he turned over the page and nearly choked on that fine rich whiskey he was so enjoying on my dime. The inner tunnels were sketched out on the back, an intricate web dotted with jumbled annotations and out of place equations, but there, hidden down deep within the mine, a literal 'X' marked the spot like an old fashioned treasure map.

"I already did some scouting," I offered, "and the area is completely abandoned. The main entrance must have caved in ages ago, but there's a ventilation shaft that leads right down into the heart of the tunnels. According to the notes there's another exit leading out through the vault, of course there's no telling how deep the mine itself goes. Just think about it Hancock, a secret vault hidden for centuries filled with guns, ammo, and medicine, not to mention all that tech ready to be salvaged and sold to the highest bidder… You get paid and I ride off into the sunset and out of the Commonwealth for good. Whaddya say?" Hancock didn't seem to be listening. His rotting finger traced along the intersecting pathways, his thoughts a million miles away.

"Isn't that something…" He said again.

Fahrenheit narrowed her eyes and came around to examine the map for herself. A murmur rumbled around the room as everyone in the bar craned their necks to get a better look.

"And how does a man like you get his hands on something like this?" Fahrenheit asked coldly.

"Does it matter?" I asked, "It's real if that's what you're asking, and besides, since when do you care where the goods come from?"

"Hmph, just as I suspected. The tin-man is as flimsy as he is hollow," she said with a sneer, "Even without your power armor, I can see right through you."

"You know," she continued "I would have thought this whole experience would have humbled you a little more, Jacob. Forced to slum it up with us freaks because your own kind doesn't want you anymore… I can't help but wonder what Sir Maxson would have to say about all this?" She said as a wicked smile spread wide over her face.

"Oh, but dead men don't have much to say about anything, do they?"

I stared silently at my untouched drink. It had been nearly 3 months since that day, when I had deserted my post and the only family I'd ever known. It wasn't a day I'd soon forget, no matter how hard I tried. No one else could either, not with the constant reminder of it still burning in the bay. Everyone in the Commonwealth had stood and watched as The Prydwen came crashing down in a blaze of hellfire. It was my fault in the end. The Institute and their synths may have pulled the trigger, but I handed them the gun.

"We've been hearing a lot of talk about you, Jacob," she continued smoothly, her voice dripping in venom as she circled around me like a snake ready to strike. I ground my teeth as Hancock abandoned his study of the map and instead took to watching the spectacle Fahrenheit was making.

"Like how you betrayed your own people, how you left your post wide open for the attack that night. And that's not even the incriminating part. They say it was your Vertibird it was flying. Your power armor it was wearing. Thanks to you, the worst enemy our world's ever known just walked aboard your beloved Prydwen and BAM," she banged her fist on the table, "that proud bitch got blown out of the sky."

"But what really gets me, is what made you do it? What makes a man turn on his own kin? Who he was born with and raised with, who he once called family. And do you know the only conclusion I could come up with?" I could hear the whispers circulating the room. We all knew what she was about to say.

"You're a synth Jacob, admit it. There's no other explanation."

Glass shattered to the ground as I got to my feet, hand reaching for my holster. Every gun in the joint trained on me in an instant as I stared the bitch down. My pulse raced and I knew I was shaking, but I didn't care. I ain't no traitor and I ain't no synth. I'd had enough of this shit.

"Listen here Hancock," I turned to the man, "I ain't about to let this turn into some witch hunt. I'm offering a real deal here, but if a pound of flesh is all you're after why don't you be a man and come get it for yourself, instead of sicking your dog on me. You want to settle this? Let's take it outside and be done with it."

The room was silent for what seemed like an eternity. All eyes were on Hancock, waiting for him to give the order. Hancock leaned back in his seat, and did what he always did. He looked down and shook his head. I tensed.

"Heh, heh, heheheh" It started out as a low rumble until it grew into a torrent of laughter that filled the room. I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Ha-ha! Atta boy Burnsie, never let the man keep you down, and here in Goodneighbor, I guess that makes me the man. Let me make you a deal. I'll give this here map a chance and we'll follow you to this "vault of riches". If you can deliver, then you're a free man, as you ought to be. And if not, well, at least it'll be a right pretty walk to your grave." Yellow teeth smiled at me as he raised his newly refilled glass.

"Let's drink on it then. Who knows, Burns? Tomorrow might be the end of the world as you know it."

Like I said, all in a days work.


	3. Ch 2: Dead Man Walking

**Chapter 2: Dead Man Walking**

* * *

The next morning I woke up feeling like the ass end of a mutant mole rat, but I doubted a splitting headache and a growing sense of regret was going to get me out of this. It had been a long night, longer still with Hancock's "friendly" neighborhood watch patrolling by my door every ten minutes. I had hoped to be long gone by now, maybe somewhere to the southwest where the Brotherhood didn't yet have a hold. I had always thought Shady Sands had a nice ring to it, or maybe down to New Vegas, or Reno, or even Mexico for that matter. Hell, I've heard the miasma in the dead city of Los was just beautiful this time of year.

A knock pounded on the door and a graveled voice called out a five-minute warning. After that, they'd be kicking the door down to "spray the place for vermin", and somehow, I didn't think he was talking about the radroaches.

I grabbed my things and slipped on my old bomber jacket, the one I got as a recruit when I first enrolled in the Lancer program. As I loaded up for the journey, I couldn't help but catch a glimpse of myself in the cracked mirror. My hair had grown long and unruly since my military days, and my brown eyes stared back at me bloodshot and broken. To top it all off, I was covered in a layer of filth that was all the rage with the raiders these days. Basically, I looked like shit.

That's what three months of hell looks like, alright. After The Prydwen fell, I was wounded and in need of shelter from my former Brothers, and fast. I had asked Diamond City of course, but as soon as they had learned who was after me, they kicked me to the curb faster than a bloatfly can spit. Vault 81 actually laughed in my face when I had asked them, and there wasn't much for settlements around these parts ever since the Minutemen fell at Quincy. So that left only one place to go. Problem was, Goodneighbor was what Hancock called a "free market" society, by which he meant the market was free to price gouge me into oblivion. Then again, I guess all those late nights at the Third Rail probably hadn't helped much either.

I quickly tucked my holotags under my shirt before heading out the door and down to the hotel lobby where Fahrenheit and her Watchmen were waiting for me. When I asked where Hancock was, all I got was a typically snarky response followed by the excuse that Hancock was far too busy with his mayoral duties to the townspeople to do anything today, which was code for "he was sleeping off a hangover". It was just like Hancock, let me do all the work so he can swoop in last minute to steal all the gold and glory.

There wasn't much point in arguing it now, so I left it at that and we walked out of the gates in silence.

* * *

It wasn't a long journey to the vault, but it was a deadly one if you didn't know the way. The city was a labyrinth of back alleys and collapsed ruins, crawling with raider gangs, wild dogs, and damn near every other abomination the Wasteland had to offer. One wrong turn in downtown Boston and you just might end up on the menu at the local Joe Spuckies, now catering exclusively to Super Mutants. More than once, we were forced to the rooftops to avoid being seen, but once we crossed over the bridge and into the Cambridge area, the roads opened up and we could finally move freely again.

The sun was high in the sky by the time we reached the mine. An open pit spread wide before us, the bottom littered with rusted excavation equipment and barrels of nuclear waste. I led the party around the edge and towards a dense patch of brambles underneath a circle of dead trees. I cut away a swath with my machete to reveal a large shaft reaching deep into the earth and a couple of Watchmen hooked up the harnesses to the sturdiest looking tree, while the rest of us cleared away the brush. Looking down, the shaft stretched on forever. It was impossible to tell how far down it really went.

"Ladies first," I said with a smile and Fahrenheit sneered in return.

"Just like a coward," she said as she shoved a harness and a flashlight into my hands, "We may be ghouls and junkies and assholes, but we know a thing or two about loyalty, something a traitor like you would never understand. Now get moving."

When it comes to women, I've learned there are two things you should never do. First, never, under any circumstances, sleep with a reporter unless you want every detail of your life broadcast to the entire world. The other? ...Don't piss off the bitch with the Nuke launcher. I lowered myself over the edge and began the slow descent down into the cold, black earth. It wasn't long before the darkness swallowed me whole, and the constant gunfire that saturated the world above faded into deafening silence. At last, my feet touched the ground and I switched on my flashlight.

A tunnel stretched out before me, pipes and wires lined the ceiling and I could hear the occasional trickle of water in the distance. Fahrenheit and the others followed soon after and we moved together in tight formation, there was no telling what could be hiding down here after all those years.

The path became steeper and more twisted the deeper we went. We saw dozens of passages veering off the main corridor and I had to wonder why anyone would stick a vault down here. As we came to a fork in the road, we saw a sign still clinging to the wall. Large faded letters read: Sand & Gravel Co. Hidden underneath like it was an unwanted afterthought: a subsidiary of Dunwich Borers, LLC.

Dunwich? I thought. There was something familiar about that name, and though I couldn't quite place it, I knew I had heard it before. Not that it mattered I supposed, the Old World was dead and gone, and it was corporations like Dunwich and Vault-Tec that did it in. They were all the same to me, nothing but greedy power-hungry monsters that were no better than the abominations they created and unleashed on us all. We passed by a few moldy skeletons huddled in the corner and I smiled. At least those bastards got theirs in the end.

We continued slowly through the debris when I spotted an alcove tucked off to the side, with a narrow tunnel leading deeper into the mine. I took out the map and saw we were on the right track. Though the vault was hidden down deep, it wasn't too far off, and it looked like everything had remained structurally intact. We turned the corner when I heard a tell-tale whirr, followed by a click click click.

"Turret!" I called out.

We ducked behind a large slab of rock just as a barrage of bullets rained down on where we had just been standing, but after a few short rounds, the chamber clicked empty and powered down. We all looked at each other, confused. Fahrenheit and the others hung back as I moved around our cover and sure enough, the turret just sat there, completely spent.

"Ha! What'd I tell you?" I said, "Piece of cake."

"Keep your voice down!" Fahrenheit whispered.

"Why? It's like I told you, no one's been down here for ages. Look at this," I walked over to a heap of bodies and pointed to the shell casings that littered the ground next to them. "Looks like security had their hands full, but we got nothing to worry about now. Between the cave in and the turrets, there ain't nothing left alive down here."

"I don't know, something doesn't feel right. Maybe we should turn around and come back with reinforcements."

"I'm telling you, there's nothing to worry about. If anything survived the bombs, it was taken care of long ago. It's just you, me, and a whole lot of dead stiffs, and I don't hear them complaining." I gave the nearest corpse a kick and felt my foot strike something hard.

"What the…?"

I jumped back as something moved beneath the debris, and we all watched, horrified, as the corpse rose up from the dead. Bare bones glinted in the dim light and cold, empty eyes stared out from beneath torn flesh. Its movements hitched unnaturally, jerking with every step as it reached out a skeletal hand and lurched towards me.

I unloaded several shots, but to my horror, the bullets ricocheted off into wild directions with one metallic clink after another. The creature just kept coming.

And that's when I realized…

"SYNTH!" I yelled, "They're all synths!"

I was backpedaling so fast, I was falling. I emptied my clip before landing with a thud on my back, but I didn't wait around to see if the shots had found their mark. I scrambled to my feet and tore after Fahrenheit and the others as they raced back through the mines. I could hear more of the creatures rising up around me, metal limbs scraping against the rock, a soft mechanical hum filling the air, and an empty monotone voice announcing "Target acquired".

I ducked down just as the laser blasted past my head, and I rolled behind an old excavator. I hastily reloaded my gun and returned fire as the synth advanced, matching me shot for shot, and for the first time, I could see the creature clearly. What had looked like bones and flesh in the darkness, was really steel, circuits, and plastic. Rusted servos and grinding gears twisted inside a skeletal chassis and its face grinned like a demented dime-store mannequin come to life.

The synth was on top of me before I knew it. I whipped out my machete and slashed wildly until I landed a heavy blow to its neck. I must have hit something important, because a thick, viscous oil burst forth and the creature let out a metallic scream. It staggered forward before crumpling to the ground in a heap.

I held out my flashlight and spun on my heels. There was no sign of Fahrenheit or the others, but all around me, more cold plastic faces were emerging from the dark. I ducked through the nearest passage and ran like hell.

Left, then right, then left again. The tunnels twisted and turned until I had lost all sense of direction, but I didn't dare slow down. The synths' ranks had swelled behind me, even now, more were trickling out of the alcoves and recesses, converging together in an oncoming flood. I heard the sound of gunfire and panicked yelling echo in the distance and I chased after it.

At last, the junction came into view, and I saw Fahrenheit and her crew fighting off a dozen or more synths, but they were no match for the torrent of flame from Fahrenheit's flamethrower. The plastic cooked clean off of their metal frames, reducing them to piles of molten circuits.

That wouldn't help much against the army behind me, however, so I called out to them, told them to run, but when Fahrenheit looked up and saw what was coming, her eyes locked with mine and I knew.

She was going to cut me loose.

She gave the order to retreat and threw her flamethrower to the ground. She grabbed the Fatman off of her back and began to load the most devastating infantry weapon devised for the modern battlefield.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I threw myself down the nearest passage just as the mini nuke fired past my head. A nuclear explosion ripped through the tunnel behind me and the shockwave sent me flying across an open cavern and slamming into the hard-packed ground with all the force of a high-speed train.

The cavern around me shook violently as the nearby tunnels collapsed one after another, filled with the smell of smoke and flame and burning plastic. I laid there for a moment, barely able to process what just happened, barely able to breathe.

That bitch. That vindictive, double-crossing bitch. She could have waited, just a few more feet and I would have been clear and I could have made it out with them. Hell, she probably enjoyed it too.

Shattered fragments of debris rained down on me and I choked on ash and smoke as it began to fill the room. I got to my feet, clutching my aching sides and saw that the tunnel I'd come from was caved in, with no sign of the synths or the others. There was no going back now. I found the nearest corridor and ran.

I raced over bridges, down spiraling catwalks, and through endless, endless tunnels. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to get there quick. It was a race against time as the tremors intensified and the whole mine threatened to come down on top of me, that was, if the synths didn't get me first.

It just didn't make any sense… What were synths doing down here in the first place? No one could have known about it, no one besides Maxson and his closest comrades anyway, and they had all taken that one-way ticket to the bottom of the bay. Besides, what could the Institute possibly want with some old vault anyway? They were the most advanced civilization in the new world, the most secretive too, but Vault-Tec? It was a relic in comparison. And those synths… they were only Gen 1 and 2. They were nothing compared to the newest models, the ones that could actually pass for human.

I guess it didn't really matter in the end. They were here now and it looked like they had been for a long time. How the hell I was getting out of here, now that was the question.

The map! I thought. If I couldn't go back, then that left only one way out. The notes in the margins had spoken of an escape tunnel leading out through the vault, and at this point, it was my only hope. As I unrolled the map, I could have kissed the ghoul that gave it to me. Of all the places to end up, I was maybe half a mile away from the vault, just a few twists and turns ahead and I'd be home free.

There was no time to waste. I rolled the map back up and tore off through the tunnels, my heart pounding in my chest and my body on fire. As I whipped around the last corner, I slammed into something hard and crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs. It didn't take me long to figure out what I had hit, and even less time to jump to my feet and bury two bullets into its skull.

It exploded in a shower of sparks and circuitry, but a few of the synth's friends were already coming at me. I blasted the first away with a clean shot to the head and slashed at the other with my machete, but it dodged with a deftness the others no longer had. He punched me hard in the stomach and the next thing I knew, I was pinned to the wall as the creature tried to wrestle the gun from my hand. I rammed my head into his and sent him staggering backward before driving my blade into his heart, his blood-oil erupting all over the cavern floor. I took off down the hallway, but any chance of getting out clean had been shot. I'm sure half the mine had heard all that, and no sooner had the thought crossed my mind than should a dozen more synths appear out of the shadows. I raced through a set of heavy double doors and barricaded them behind me, but it wouldn't hold for long.

I looked around and found myself standing at the bottom of a pit. Walkways lined the walls, intertwining into a vast network above me. And there! About three stories up and half hidden under 200 years of dust, but still that unmistakable blue and yellow, the words "Vault-Tec" were shining like a beacon under the lamplight, and I knew I had made it.

I raced up the nearest ramp and prayed the rusted metal would hold as another tremor shook the pit around me. At long last, I reached the vault and switched on the computer terminal next to it. It whirred to life and bright green text flashed across the ancient monitor and I typed in the bypass command, expecting to see the usual code fill the screen. Instead, four short lines appeared.

I am the beginning of the end

the end of every place

I am the beginning of eternity

and the end of time and space

 _What the hell is this?_ I thought.

I typed in the command again and again but nothing happened, and I began to panic. I'd never seen anything like this, none of the usual overrides were working and I was running out of time. I looked over the words and realized it was a riddle, but what could do all that? The beginning of the end? Sure sounded like the nukes to me, but it didn't fit the rest of the clues. The beginning of eternity and the end of time and space? Dammit, the notes hadn't said anything about no riddle! I took out the map and scoured it for clues, even as I could hear the door below strain under the weight of the growing horde, threatening to break loose any second. There had to be something, anything! Why would someone go to all the trouble of drawing this out just to leave me stranded outside the front door?

But there was nothing. Nothing in the notes, nothing near the vault, nothing but a lonely 'X' mocking me on the map.

Wait a minute…

I looked at the screen again, but it couldn't really be that simple, could it? I didn't have anything left to lose as I typed in my answer and pressed enter, just as the barricade blasted open and the horde flooded into the pit.

Lasers fired off in all directions and I returned in kind. The walkways threatened to collapse under the weight as an army stormed after me, drawing ever closer as the computer struggled to analyze my answer. I heard a chime overhead and the locks disengaged, there was a low hiss as the vault depressurized and unseen gears cranked open. The massive steel door sunk back into the wall amidst a billow of steam and rolled off to one side. The synths were rounding the last corner as I reset the security protocols and the door began to reverse. I fired into the oncoming horde and jumped over the threshold just as the heavy door closed shut behind me.


	4. Ch 3: Angel in Blue

**Chapter 3: Angel in Blue**

* * *

I couldn't believe it. I was in. It had actually worked! The answer was so simple it had been staring me in the face the whole time. All I could do was laugh as I slid down to rest at the foot of the door.

'E'. The answer was simply 'e'! The grandness of the clues had all been a distraction, a trick of perception. Kind of a funny way to secure a top secret vault when you think about it, but then again, maybe that's what had kept the synths at bay for all these years? I had thought for sure I was a goner back there, but I had made it, and now the vault was all mine. To hell with Hancock and his freaks, I'd be long gone and filthy rich by the time they knew what happened.

As I moved to the next room, however, my heart fell through my chest. This didn't look like any vault I'd ever seen, in fact, it looked more like the mind of a madman. The entire vault was no bigger than a two-room apartment, and everywhere I looked was covered in newspapers and faded photographs. Maps of the United States and China were strewn across the tables, and boxes upon boxes were stacked in every corner. Just as I was beginning to think I'd been played for a fool, I saw it. The mother of all caches was locked behind a heavy metal gate, full of the kinds of things that would have made even the staunchest supporter of _Guns & Ammo_ blush. This was a full military style arsenal… missile launchers, nuke grenades, even a set of T-61 power armor, everything I could have hoped for and more.

I searched around for a terminal to open the gate and found one buried beneath a dozen file folders and several half-smoked cigarettes. I was halfway through the hacking protocol when out of the corner of my eye, something else caught my attention. There, tucked away in the back of the vault, was a strange pod.

I'd never seen anything like it. It stood there like an ancient monolith, untouched by the ravages of time. An icy chill enveloped me as I came closer, the cold radiating off it in waves. I peered inside and gasped.

A face was staring back at me.

A young woman was frozen inside. Her blonde hair curled over her face, and her lips parted ever so slightly as if she were only sleeping. Even frozen, she was beautiful. Her vault suit clung to her every curve, and her long lashes rested delicately on her cheeks. She looked so peaceful as she slept, suspended in time. An angel in blue.

I don't know how long I stood staring. A lot longer than a gentleman should have, I'm sure, but I just couldn't look away. It all seemed too impossible to be real. How had she survived all these years? Why was she all alone? Who was she, and why was she here? Just, _why?_

Suddenly, a loud BANG shocked me back to the present and my brow furrowed in confusion.

 _What the hell?_ I thought, and another bang shook me again. I rushed to the entrance and saw the locks snapping out of place. One by one, they were being forced open, and it occurred to me that resetting the protocols may not have been the best idea after all. If the riddle was what was keeping them at bay, and if a security reset reverts the system back to factory level, then that meant…

The synths were overriding the system.

I raced back inside to the main terminal and saw a security warning flashing across the screen. Sure enough, the reset had given the synths another way in, and they'd be through within a matter of minutes.

I looked up at the cache, then at the girl, then at the timer on the screen.

Well, _fuck_.

I found the command and an overhead voice announced the start of the rejuvenation process. An alarm reverberated off the walls as the cryopod began to heat up. Finally, the pod swung open and the girl collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. She mumbled something about the bombs as she took in her surroundings, her eyes wide with fear and confusion. I tried to help her to her feet, but she only shoved me away.

"W-what's going on?" She said, terrified. "Who are you? Where's my father?"

"There's no time for that, we have to go," I told her as I opened up the escape tunnel.

"What's all that noise? Is it the Chinese? The Russians? Hey, let go of me!" I grabbed her by the arm and she struggled against me. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on! Help!"

"Dammit woman, we have to go!"

We didn't have time for this, the synths would be here any second! She got to her feet and backed away, grabbing a nearby Pip-Boy and latching it to her wrist. She began dialing out to every frequency, calling out for help that was never going to come. I tried to grab her again and she lashed out. The girl was fierce for such a little thing, and we struggled for several moments until my holotags slipped out from underneath my shirt. Suddenly, she stopped.

"Wait, you're with the military?" She asked, "Did my father send you? Is he alive?" She said with a sparkle of hope in her eyes.

Hey, whatever get's you moving, sweetheart.

"YES!" I yelled. "He's waiting on the outside, but it'll be a pretty depressing reunion if you show up dead, so let's MOVE!" She didn't look entirely convinced, but she took my hand anyway and we ran.

We were racing back through the mines on a straight path to the surface. It wasn't long before the locks gave way and the hordes came crashing through the vault after us. Tremors shook the tunnels as the creatures poured out through the escape door, an army of the undead, or rather the never-living, out for blood. Before we knew it, all hell had broken loose. Lasers screamed past our heads and the tremors around us became more and more violent, until at last a pinprick of light came into view. The exit was a mere twenty feet away, when the girl screamed. Heavy rocks started coming down on top of us as another quake nearly took us off our feet. The tunnel was collapsing.

Mechanical voices cried out before they were smothered under an avalanche of earth. The mass of dirt roared down the corridor after us as we sprinted towards the exit. Ten feet away now. Five feet. Four feet. Three, two, one…

We leapt out into the sunlight just as the tunnel crashed like a tidal wave against the rocky wall of the exit, and burst forth like an open floodgate. We rode the wave down the hill until at last, we came to a stop at an outcropping.

I coughed as the cloud of dust settled around me, and my eyes watered as they adjusted to the sunlight I thought I'd never see again. I got to my feet, the earth still quaking beneath me as the tunnels continued to collapse, when I realized the girl was no longer at my side. I whipped around in a panic, calling out for her among the rubble, when at last I spotted her standing over the cliff's edge, staring out at the horizon. Her eyes were filled with tears and her body was shaking worse than the mines below, as she gazed out at the decimated ruins of Cambridge and Boston beyond.

I rushed over as her legs began to wobble, and she fainted in my arms.


	5. Ch 4: A Girl Out of Time

**Chapter 4: A Girl Out of Time**

* * *

The sun was creeping below the horizon by the time I carried the girl down the hill and into a bomb-blasted apartment. I found a secluded room, where I laid her gently down on the sofa and took up watch next to the window. I stared out over the square below, my bloodshot eyes begging for rest, but there was no chance. I'd be up all night for sure, the last thing I needed was for her to wake up and run off into God-knows-what. This was definitely no place for a young woman to be caught after dark.

I watched as the ferals crawled out from their holes and into the cool night air. They shambled aimlessly through the streets below, lost souls of a bygone era, forever doomed to wander. I knew the feeling. It seemed like that was all I was doing these days, and now there was no end in sight.

It was supposed to be easy, in and out with all the guns and goods I'd ever need to live out the rest of my days, but nothing's ever that simple. I was sitting off worse than ever before, not to mention someone still had to explain this whole mess to the girl. I certainly didn't look forward to telling her the truth about her old man, but somehow, I think she already knew.

I looked over at her for about the hundredth time since I had first seen her in that vault. She looked so peaceful as she laid there, the ephemeral light of an old television dancing across her delicate features.

There were a million questions racing through my mind, the same questions I'm sure every Wastelander had asked himself at one time or another. Sure, you could talk to one of the old pre-war ghouls, but 200 years inevitably took its toll on the mind. Nobody was meant to live that long, and memory can be a fickle thing. But this girl? She was someone who had actually _lived_ back then, who could _remember_. A part of me felt guilty for wanting to know, I despised Vault-Tec and everything they stood for, but still… I couldn't help but wonder…

How had it really come to _this?_

I watched as one of the ghouls below stepped on an active mine. The explosion blew pieces of him clear across the plaza and left him writhing in agony on the ground. Before the poor beast knew it, his fellow ferals were on top of him, tearing into his flesh and devouring him alive.

This was the only world I or anyone else had ever known. Dog eat dog, and to hell if you thought that was ever going to change. And yet, all around us were remnants of the past, echoes calling out to us from every corner of the world. It was recorded on every holotape, written on every poster, and plastered on every billboard. Forever taunting us with that never-ending question.

 _How?_

I turned away and back towards the girl. She was a mystery all her own. Who was she, and how did she end up there? And what was with that vault anyway? It looked like it had belonged to some conspiracy nut, but she sure didn't fit the profile. Whoever put that place together _must_ have had some deep connections with Vault-Tec, at least the money and influence to know a thing or two. I eyed the Pip-Boy on her wrist and thought to myself (and not for the first time either), what secrets could it be hiding?

I couldn't take it any longer. I carefully unhooked the latch and slid the device gently off of her wrist. At once, I could tell this wasn't your average model. In fact, I wasn't sure if this was a RobCo at all. It had all the features every other portable computer came with in those days; telescreen, radio, holotape deck, but I'd never seen one with a collapsible keyboard before, let alone an adjustable interface cable that looked like it could plug into just about any port. I booted up the system and green letters flickered across the screen.

Greetings, Ilya Astor

 _Ilya… what an unusual name,_ I thought. It reminded me of flowers, and not those dried-up weeds that clung to life out in the Wasteland, but like the ones you saw in paintings and photographs.

The girl began to stir in her sleep, and I moved to sit by her side. Her eyes fluttered open, and immediately a panic came over her face as everything that had happened came rushing back to her. I tried to calm her down, to tell her that she was safe, and that I wouldn't let anything happen to her… but before the words could leave my lips, a small yet powerful fist slammed into my face and knocked me flat on my ass.

"Argh! Son of a… What the hell did you do that for?" I yelled.

"You!" She was shaking with a rage so fierce she could hardly speak. "You… _lied_ to me! What kind of soldier are you? What kind of _man?_ " She snatched the Pip-Boy out of my hands and put it back on her wrist.

"What are you talking about? I saved your life! You ungrateful little…"

"Who are you and where are we?" she demanded, and suddenly I found myself staring down the barrel of my own gun. The little minx must have swiped it while I was nursing my injured pride.

"Answer me!" she demanded again.

"Alright, alright, just calm down, will ya? The name's Jacob Burns, and we're just outside the college square at Cambridge. And yeah, I lied. It was the only way I could get you out of there, no need to thank me by the way," I said as I got to my feet and dusted myself off. I ignored the incredulous look on her face as I sauntered past and slumped onto the couch, beyond exhausted. In the past few hours, I'd been shot at, buried alive, nearly vaporized in an atomic blast, and altogether dragged through hell and back. She could do what she wanted, I was done for the day.

"What happened back there?" She demanded, "Those monsters, those robot things, what on earth were they? I've never seen anything like that, not from the Chinese, the Russians, or even the Martians out of a cheap sci-fi mag! I mean… how did they…and why… and…and…" Her eyes teared up as she looked out the window, "Just… _what happened?_ " I sighed, I knew she'd get there eventually.

So I told her. I told her the whole damn thing. How the sirens rang out that morning, but few had listened, assuming it had been just another drill. A flash of light and thousands of lives were extinguished in an instant. Those unlucky enough to survive were drowned in a world of radiation that twisted them into the ferals below. Even to this day, no one knows who fired the first shot, and I doubted there was anyone left who cared, but one thing was certain. By the end of it, all of two hours had passed, and the Great War of 2077 was over. The world as we knew it had ended, and only the Wasteland remained.

By the time I had finished, Ilya was sitting on the couch next to me, the gun in her hand long forgotten. She was quiet for a long time.

"Two hundred years?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"A little over two hundred and ten, actually," I said.

"My father promised me… he said he had a plan, that he'd leave me a sign or a signal or _something_ if he didn't make it in time. I can't believe he's really gone…"

I wasn't sure what to say, I couldn't imagine what she was going through. I had lost my family, my home, and my honor, but she had lost her entire world.

"Look Ilya… I uh, don't mean to pry, but I gotta ask. How'd you end up in that freezer box in the first place?"

"I don't remember much," she said thoughtfully, "A man came to my home in the middle of the night, told me he worked for my father and that the bombs were on their way. Next thing I knew, I was being rushed away to the vault and climbing into that cryopod. After that, it's all been alarms and running for my life."

"So, you have no idea what was actually in the vault?" I asked.

"No, I barely got a look at it." My heart sank, so much for getting answers.

"Wait a minute," she said, "How did _you_ find _me_?"

I dug the map out of my jacket and handed it over. She looked at me as if I had just grown two heads (which was entirely possible in this day and age).

"This is my father's handwriting," she said, astonished, "where did you get this?"

"Off some old salesman," I replied with a wave of my hand, "he told me it would lead me to 'the Greatest Treasure in the Wasteland'", I laughed. "Don't get me wrong, your old man had a nice stash, but it was hardly as grand as advertised. He probably just plucked it off some old ruins, I think there's a regional HQ for Vault-Tec downtown."

"No, this… this would have been kept highly classified. It wouldn't have just been lying around. These numbers, what do they mean?" She pointed to a few notes jumbled in the corner right next to the sketch of a small butterfly, the absent-minded doodle of a scientist long dead.

I shrugged.

"Seemed like random numbers to me, I never really gave them any thought," I told her. She stared at them intently, until suddenly, she stood up.

"Do you believe in fate, Mr. Burns?" A pearly grin spread wide over her face.

"Excuse me?"

"This can't be a coincidence. My father may have been a clever man, but this is beyond even him!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"THIS! This is a message, and it's meant for _me_!" She jabbed her finger at the drawing as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh…kay… What does some scribble your dad made two centuries ago have to do with anything?"

"That was my father's nickname for me," she said, exasperated. "He always called me his little miracle, that I wouldn't be here 'if not for the flap of a butterfly's wings'."

"When I was born, I was terribly ill. My mother died during childbirth, and I had to be hospitalized until I was nearly six years old. My father brought me up on mathematical equations and scientific theories, but he couldn't help but throw in a little magic just for me. I mean, I was the girl with a stable of _Giddy-up Buttercups_ , after all…"

"He used to tell me that on the day I was born, I was fated to die… but somewhere, out in the great wide world, a butterfly flapped its wings and changed my future. And so, he would always thank a butterfly whenever he saw one, just in case it was the one that saved my life." She trailed off as she examined the numbers again.

"Oh, come on," I said, "You don't really believe in that crap, do you? It's all random coincidence. I'm just a guy that followed a map, there's nothing mystical about that." But she wasn't listening, she was typing furiously into her Pip-Boy, mumbling to herself as she fiddled with the dials and flipped through the channels on the radio.

"Dang it, I can't seem to find a signal anywhere. Is there a satellite array nearby? Or a transmission station or even a… oh!" She rushed over to the television, pried off the back casing, and began digging through the electronics.

"What're you…?" I started, but before I could finish, she had shoved a handful of wires into my arms and was plugging in the interface cable into a hidden port within the tubing. I watched, fascinated, as she flipped through the television channels until at last a signal appeared. The TV crackled until the static finally settled on the "Please Stand By" message in all its monochromatic glory.

"It's always been like that," I told her, "the screen's never changed, not for two hundred years anyway."

She couldn't hear me. She was lost in her own world as she worked out a problem only she could see. I'd heard tales of men who went mad staring at that box, wasted away, just waiting for the damned thing to tell them what to do. Denial's an ugly thing out here, the kind of thing that get's you killed and I wasn't about to let that happen to her.

I grabbed a hold of the girl's arm, but as soon as I did, the static crackled and a sound trumpeted through ancient speakers. The screen flashed with the message "Incoming Broadcast" and slowly, a grainy image came into focus. A man appeared on the screen.

For the first time in two hundred years, the television spoke.

"Goodbye, butterfly."


	6. Ch 5: The Last Will of Dr Isaac Astor

**Chapter 5: The Last Will & Testament of Dr. Isaac Astor**

* * *

I couldn't look away. My eyes were glued to the screen like a brain-dead lobotomite. I stared at the television, completely entranced, as the man walked out of the frame and the message set to play again. I'd heard of moving pictures before, but the closest I'd ever come was an old slide projector full of military specs and training materials. I looked over at Ilya, almost expecting her to be just as amazed as I was, but instead, she was smiling like a kid on Saturday morning, just waiting for her favorite program to begin. It was in that moment that it struck me how far away from home she really was.

"…Ilya," the man spoke again and the smile stretched even wider over her face.

"It's him, it's my father! I knew it, I knew he wouldn't leave me all alone!" She cranked up the volume just as the message began again.

The man stepped back into the frame, much clearer than before. He was in his late fifties, and even though he was wearing a white lab coat and those thick Nuka-bottle glasses that had a way of making all scientists look like giant bloatflies, it was the look in those sullen bloodshot eyes that gave him away for what he really was.

I'd seen that same look every day in the mirror for the past three months. It was a look full of regret, beat down and defeated, maybe even a little self-loathing. It was the look of a broken man.

"My daughter, I am sorry, but if you are hearing this, then I am already dead." The girl's smile quickly faded as the last hope for her father vanished before her very eyes.

"Please don't be distraught, I've known this was coming for a long time. We all have a part to play, and now, this is mine. At the very least I can leave you this message, to help prepare you for the trials ahead."

"There are things you don't know, that you must understand. The world as you knew it wasn't all that it seemed. I… am not all that I seem. I wish I had more time to tell you everything, wish I had been honest in the first place, but I was a fool and thought I could do it all myself. I realize now I was just being selfish. I wanted to keep you safe from all the terrible realities of this world, but now I've only left you unprepared for the next." His voice wavered as he spoke, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

"All of this, everything that's happened, it all comes down to one thing: Project Omega."

"It was our vision, mine and Braun's. All of Vault-Tec's research was leading up to it, the final solution to the apocalypse and the wasteland it would leave behind. It was to be my greatest achievement, my legacy, but little did I know what he was willing to do… the kind of people he was willing to work with…

"I'd known since the beginning that Braun was taking money from some unsavory characters. Foreign governments looking for favors, millionaires wanting their own post-apocalyptic accommodations, even the covert communist after the odd weapon or power source, but none of them compared with… _the_ _Order_."

"They came at a time when we needed them most. Our research was failing, and we owed money to almost everyone. The government was threatening to pull our funding, and our investors were the kind of people that did not tolerate excuses, nor left any loose ends. But then they came… the men in suits. They brought with them seemingly endless amounts of cash, but more than that, they gave us access to technologies we'd never seen before, perhaps not even of this earth. It expedited our research tenfold, and we realized a sustainable solution was within our grasp, but it all came at a terrible price. I soon found myself losing control of my own project, and Braun, so eager to appease our new financiers, found new and horrifying ways to make me question my very humanity."

"It became clear that we were no longer safe from their greed or lust for power. It was then that I began planning for this day, when I dedicated myself to understanding and fighting these men, this Order of the Algorithm _,_ at every turn. I betrayed my friends and colleagues, became a spy in my own company. I sacrificed everything, my very life _,_ to make sure you survived to hear this message."

"The Conduit, Ilya. The Omega Vault cannot operate without it. I stole it that night, hid it away, but I knew it wasn't safe. I knew they would come looking for it one way or another, so I entrusted it to a friend, someone who will be able to help you on your way no matter how much time has passed. The vault is capable of great things, but in the wrong hands, it is a power more devastating than all the atomic bombs combined. But I've already stayed too long… they are coming for me. For now, all I can offer you is this…" And the man's voice lowered to a deadly whisper, but each word was spoken with a deliberate and urgent purpose.

"Follow the light, for it alone can illuminate the truth from the darkness, and lay your path bare for you to see. But beware my child, for the light you shine may reveal more than you are prepared to know."

"My daughter, I'm sorry, but I must leave this to you. You must get to the vault before they do. There is no other choice. Once you wake, I fear they will come for you, and not even time can stand in their way. Whether it has been ten years, a hundred, or a thousand… they will come for you."

"Please, just remember that everything I've done, everything I've sacrificed, that I did it for you. I love you."

"Goodbye, butterfly."

The recording ended and suddenly switched back to the "Please Stand By" screen. We sat there, in complete silence, for what felt like an eternity.

I looked over at the girl. She sat frozen, tears streaming down her face as she stared unblinkingly at the screen. It was a hell of a lot to take in, I could hardly believe it myself. I'd always thought Vault-Tec was nothing more than a bunch of sadistic assholes who enjoyed fooling innocent people into walking unwittingly to their deaths. After all this time, I never once thought that there might be an actual purpose to all of their mad experiments and mutant monstrosities.

I reached over to turn off the television, but the girl smacked my hand away and looked at me as if I had just spat on her father's grave.

"What do you think you're doing?" She said, "There might be more, s-something we missed. That… that can't be it, it _can't_ be! Who is this friend supposed to be? What did he mean "the light" would show me the way? Oh, what am I supposed to do, father, tell me what to do!" She banged on the television until something broke inside it. The screen sparked and it blinked into oblivion, before a thick black smoke began pouring out the back.

The girl paced around the room, mumbling madly to herself as she repeated the mysterious phrase over and over. Just as I was beginning to think she had finally cracked under the pressure, I caught sight of that pearly grin and a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"This… this is just so incredible, I can hardly believe it! I mean, where do we even begin?" She said as she wiped away the tears. "All I keep thinking is that there _has_ to be more, something he's not telling me. He was standing in his study, that much I could tell, so that's where we should look first, right? We should investigate the scene and see what we can find out about this Order of the Algorithm. Do you know how to get to uptown?" She turned to me, and I suddenly realized what she was saying.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa kid! What's all this "we" stuff?" I said as I got to my feet. "Look, I'm sorry about your old man and all, but I've got enough heat on me as it is. The last thing I need right now is to run off on another damn treasure hunt. I've already had my fill of that today, thanks."

"But… didn't you hear him? This isn't just any vault Mr. Burns, this is _the_ vault! Don't you get it? This could save countless lives, it could save the world!"

I laughed.

"A little late for that dontcha think?" I said as I waved my hand out the window. "Where do you suppose we start? The radiation? The raiders? Oh, I know! How about we teach Super Mutants the power of love and kindness so we can all sit around the campfire and sing Kum-ba-yah? Wake up sweetheart, this world's beyond repair, probably wasn't worth saving in the first place."

"How can you be so cold?" She said angrily, "My father _died_ for this, I have the right to know what happened to him at the very least! Besides, can't you imagine what this is capable of? All the good it could do?"

"Oh please, that sounds like just another empty Vault-Tec promise to me. Anyway, he also said it was dangerous. Aren't you afraid the _evil Order_ is going to come after you?"

"Not really," she said as she shrugged, "My father tended to be a bit… paranoid, when it came to me in any case. I was all he had left after my mom died and growing up as sick as I was, he'd always been overprotective of me. Honestly, if it were up to him I never would have left the house without a dozen bodyguards in tow. But it's been over _two hundred years._ If the Order was going to come after me, then don't you think they would have done it by now? I mean, if someone like _you_ could do it, then I doubt they were really that determined."

"Look, if you just take me to my father's house, I can show you this is real. Please, Jacob, I can't do this without you…"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This all had to be one bad dream. Any minute now, I'd wake up in my hotel room with a nasty hangover and a vow to shoot whoever spiked my drink last night. She had to be out of her mind if she thought I was going to babysit her while she went off playing adventurer like the heroine of some cheap Grognak knockoff. Well, this ain't no game of Dungeons and Deathclaws girly, this is real life.

"So let me get this straight," I said as I rubbed at the headache forming behind my eyes. "You want me to run halfway across the Commonwealth in search of some ancient treasure that will "save the world" from an evil Order that no one's even heard of, and you're going to accomplish this by solving a two-hundred-year-old murder case, all without a single clue to go on… Did I catch all that?"

"Mr. Burns, I know this all sounds impossible, but I trust my father more than anything, and he's counting on me to do this. He was a brilliant man and I _know_ he has a plan, besides, we aren't talking about some common vault, this is the very salvation of mankind! You can't honestly turn your back on that, can you?"

"Oh yes, I can!" I shouted, "First thing tomorrow morning, I'm taking you to Diamond City, and that's that." I shoved past her and took up a spot near the stairs, where I laid down for the night.

"But…" She protested.

"But nothing! Get some sleep, it's going to be a long walk tomorrow. Trust me, it'll be safe for you in the city, no ancient evil or anything. Once you see what it's really like out there, you'll thank me for this."

She glared as if she wanted to give me a swift kick down the stairs, but she settled for cursing me under her breath instead. She grabbed the gun off of the couch and begrudgingly handed it out to me. I laughed and waved it away.

"Keep it," I said, "I've got another right here, did you really think I only carried one weapon?" I smiled as I lifted my shirt to show her the gun still at my side.

"Oh, and the one in your hand? It's been out of bullets the entire time."

And with that, I rolled over and closed my eyes, relishing that last look of indignant disbelief on her face before finally drifting off to sleep.


	7. Ch 6: Lost in the Outfield

**Chapter 6: Lost in the Outfield**

* * *

I was up at first light the next morning, and wasted no time in gathering my things together for the journey ahead. I had already explained to Ilya how there was no better time to travel, the ghouls were just lying down for the day, while the raiders were still drunk from the night before. Of course, that didn't stop her from being as stubborn as a two-headed mule when it came time to get up. You would think that two centuries suspended in cryo-stasis would have been enough sleep to last her a lifetime, but instead, all I got was a groan of "five more minutes" as she rolled over and fell right back to sleep. Hate to break it to you sweetheart, but this ain't no concierge service.

I flipped over the sofa and sent the girl crashing to the floor with a yelp of surprise. Ten minutes of screaming later and she spent the rest of the morning sulking over a breakfast of baked beans and warm Nuka-Cola. The silent treatment suited me just fine, in fact, the sooner she was safe behind the Wall, the sooner she was outta my hair and someone else's problem.

Once we'd hit the road, however, her indignation was quickly forgotten. Suddenly I was under siege, bombarded with question after question, most of which I couldn't have answered even if I'd wanted to. How do ghouls degenerate without dying? How long did it take for the animals to mutate and evolve? Do you think it was the ionizing or the residual radiation that caused the different mutagenetic permutations?

What should have been a short walk seemed to drag on forever as the girl insisted on stopping at every coffee shop, laundromat, and ice cream parlor on the way, as if the answer to all her questions would be waiting for her on a silver platter. Worse yet, she had a knack for finding trouble where there was none. A minor encounter with a lone radroach escalated quickly when she stumbled over some debris and disturbed the rest of its family. I had everything under control, until one crawled up the side of her leg and she screamed so loud that every Super Mutant, rabid dog, and raider heard it for miles around. Three unscheduled detours later and we finally crossed the bridge into Boston.

Diamond City sat only a few blocks away, but I led her off the main road and into a nearby office building first. After a few minutes of digging through the piles of junk, I finally found an old suitcase with some Pre-War clothes inside. I tossed the girl a long coat and headscarf and she looked at them with disgust.

"What are these for?" She said with a grimace.

"It'll be a lot easier if no one knows you're a vault dweller," I told her, "and if you're going to pass for a Wastelander, then you're going to have to look, and… ugh… smell, the part," I added as I pulled out a hideous plaid suit for myself, a vile orange number covered in some suspicious stains that I chose to ignore.

"But I thought you said Diamond City was safe?" She asked.

"It is, it's Outfield I'm worried about…"

"Outfield? What's that?"

 _What do I look like, the Wasteland's resident tour guide?_ She looked just like a tourist too as she tried on a pair of sunglasses in a cracked mirror, as if this was all just one big road trip. Rather than spend the rest of my life answering stupid questions, I dragged the girl up to the rooftop and pointed to the skyline before us. Ilya gasped.

There she was, the Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth herself, Diamond City. What had once been an old sports stadium, now stood as the last bastion of civilization against the wilds of downtown Boston. The city's massive steel walls towered over the surrounding ruins, and you could just make out the homes in the high stands with their electricity and clean water, but that's not where I was pointing.

No, I was pointing below, where beneath the Wall's great shadow lay a sea of tents that flooded the plaza and into the surrounding alleyways beyond. Hundreds upon hundreds of people were crowded into the dilapidated buildings, taking up residence wherever they could find it. They were in the ruins, they were on the street, they were in the dumpsters and the gutters. Some had even fled to the sewers, all just to get away from the crumbling state of the Commonwealth. It was easily the biggest settlement around, and the most dangerous to boot. Goodneighbor was bad enough, but at least they had a code among thieves. Out here, it was every man for himself.

" _That's_ Outfield," I said.

"Where did they all come from?" She asked, wide-eyed.

"All over. Farms, outposts, you name it. The Commonwealth is in shambles, ever since the Minutemen fell at Quincy the settlements had no one to protect them after that. Those that could afford it packed up and took their chances out west, everyone else? They're either struggling out in No-Man's-Land or sitting right in front of you. C'mon, the entrance is down this way."

"Wait a minute, you're not saying… you can't actually mean… that _this_ is "Diamond" City?!"

"What were you expecting, the Ritz Carlton?" I laughed, but Ilya just looked horrified.

"But that's a baseball stadium!" She cried, "Are you actually telling me that _this_ is as good as it gets?" I sighed as I flashed my most charming smile.

"Welcome to the Wasteland, sweetheart."

* * *

We weaved in and out of the bustling marketplace, amid makeshift shops and traveling caravans with their brahmin in tow. The traders shouted over one another with colorful slogans, desperately competing for what few customers there were to be had. There weren't many caps left to go around these parts, most of these people were farmers whose homes had been razed and their crops stolen. The raiders weren't the only thing you had to worry about either, the Super Mutants had been growing bolder as the Commonwealth continued to fracture into anarchy, their attacks becoming more frequent and brutal with each passing day. And if they didn't get to you, then the radiation would. Intense radstorms had been swelling up from the south, as if the Glowing Sea itself was rising up to swallow all of civilization whole.

And yet, none of this even scratched the surface of the dangers that were lurking around every corner, for there was something out here far worse than mutants and mayhem, something that none of us could escape. Something that was hiding in plain sight.

Everywhere you looked, you could see the fear and distrust in people's eyes. Who? Who would it be next? The man on the street corner? The new trader in town? Or would the hand of fate finally point its accursed finger at you?

Reality can be far stranger, and more terrifying than fiction ever could be… and the Institute's newest abominations made the synths I'd met in the mine look like child's play. Not only were they smarter, faster, and more deadly than ever, but they actually _looked_ human, and it's a hell of a lot harder to pull the trigger when the face staring back at you once belonged to someone you loved. You just had to remember that beneath the crude imitation of human flesh beat the mechanical heart of a monster, loyal only to the unseen hand that made it.

In the end, the Institute was no different than Vault-Tec or any other Pre-War company that had left the world in ruins, and it was only a matter of time before they all condemned us to the same fate in the fire.

At last, we arrived at the main gate where a guard stood with a clipboard in hand. The man was built like a brick wall with a face to match, and like all Diamond City security, he was wearing a Pre-War baseball uniform and helmet, with umpire pads that just barely stretched over his wide frame. As the man looked over his paperwork, his brow wrinkled in confusion, it was like watching an ape trying to read.

 _Perfect,_ I thought, _just the kind of meathead I was hoping for._ And with that, I signaled to Ilya to follow my lead.

"Hello there, fella!" I said with my best northern accent, and the man looked up from his papers with an annoyed glare.

"Pardon me sir, but we are envoys from Far Harbor, sent here to negotiate a trade route with you and your fine city. We've come all this way to visit with your local market to see what our settlements might have to offer each other, but we only got off the boat just yesterday and have been walking ever since. My associate and I are very tired and were hoping to get a room before making our rounds. I'm sure a well-traveled man like yourself would understand…" I added with a winning smile.

The man looked us up and down, but to my surprise, said nothing as he folded his arms across his massive chest.

"Er, well," I continued as I fumbled with the suitcase I'd brought along, "We, uh, have an assortment of sample merchandise to showcase, and full authority to finalize agreements so there'll be no delay, but my superiors are very eager to hear back from me, so if you'd kindly let us inside…"

"Youse gots an appointment there _fella_?" The man said gruffly.

"Well… no, " I replied, a little taken aback, "Like I said, my associate and I just got off the boat from Far Harbor and we're here to negotiate a trade route-" The guard held up his hand and stopped me right there.

"Gimme a break," he said as he rolled his eyes, "Do youse gots any idea how many "envoys", "ambassadahs", and so-called "Kings of the Wasteland" I sees on a daily basis? Everyone wants inside this here wall, and I've heards just about every story in the book, but that hasta be one of the _lamest_ ones I've heards yet. Ain't no's ways youse two are from that fah north. For one, this little philly here would freeze her pretty little ass off, and two, you look about as much like a fisherman as a dead mole rat."

"How's this sound, bub?" The man said with a smarmy smile, "I'll just go ahead and adds your names to this here list, and we'll get ya's in. Let's see… Oh, would ya lookee here! We gots an opening coming up in… about three months to never. How's ten o' clockwork for ya?" And with that, the man's booming laughter chased us all the way back into the crowds.

As I hid my face from the jeering onlookers, I felt my blood begin to boil. Who the hell did that prick think he was, anyway? The last time I'd visited the Diamond, all it took was one good deal to waft under their greedy noses and they'd throw out the red carpet for just about anyone. We needed to regroup and figure out something else, preferably without calling so much attention to myself this time. The last thing I needed was to get recognized out here, the Citadel itself had set the bounty on my head, and Outfield was full of mercenaries just itching for the chance to cash in.

"That went well, don't you think?" Ilya said with a wry smile.

"Fucking asshole," I spat, "You know, that would have worked a couple of months ago, they must have beefed up security since the last surge of refugees. I guess things have gotten a lot worse since I've been gone."

"So, what are we suppose to do now?" She asked.

"Well, that gate's the only way in or out, so I guess we wait until they change the guard and give it another go then."

"That's it? That's your plan? Now really Jacob, I had expected so much more from you, _oh great master of disguise_ ," she added with a tittering laugh.

"Oh yeah? So what's your plan then, smart ass?" I snapped.

"Have you always been this charming, Mr. Burns? Because I think I've met lab rats with better manners than you. My plan, as it happens, hasn't changed one bit since last night. I say we go after the vault, starting with leaving this wretched city behind and never looking back. In fact, if we left right now, we could be resting comfortably at my father's place before sundown."

"Oh no you don't, I told you once before, I ain't interested in any more treasure hunts, mad adventures, or wild goose chases, so don't waste your breath," I said as I rubbed at my temples once again. I couldn't help but sigh as I stared up at the Wall that towered over me like… well, like a goddamn wall in my way. I knew there had to be another way in, but I just couldn't see it. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to wipe that smug smile off of Ilya's face.

Suddenly, a delighted cackle startled me from behind, and I whipped around only to stifle a gasp of surprise. I was expecting a guard, a bounty hunter, or even Hancock himself, but nothing could have prepared me for what I was seeing now.

An old woman was standing there, although she wasn't really standing at all. Instead, she was sitting within the modified framework of an old Mr. Handy, refitted to suit her like a high-tech hover-chair. Her frail body wobbled as one of the jet thrusters sparked every now and again, causing her to dip in the air like a drunken bloatfly. For a brief and terrifying moment, I thought I saw a look of recognition on the woman's face, that was, until her eyes met mine and I realized that she was completely blind. And yet, as I stared into those empty eyes, I couldn't help but think she was hiding something just beyond that shrouded veil… as if she had knowledge of some great secret, and this fact seemed to amuse her to no end.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than a smile appeared on that ancient face, and the woman cackled again.

"Hehehe… Heart of steel, and charming as tin, the battle may be won, but the war will never end," she said with a mad glee.

"I… What?" I sputtered, baffled beyond words. The old woman was making as much sense as a junkie on jet, which seemed entirely possible now that I got a good look at her. The woman's skin was sunken and sallow, her teeth all but fallen out, and those that hadn't were stained with the tell-tale residue from years of chem abuse. No wonder the old bat was out here by herself, she was just another addict looking for a fix, and I wasn't about to support anybody's habits but my own.

"C'mon Ilya, let's get out of here. This old junkie seems one chem short of a cocktail, if you know what I mean…"

"Hmph, just as Mama thought… Nothing more than another coward running from his own shadow. The Wasteland is full of fools like you boy, but few have failed quite as spectacularly as you did a moment ago. Mama may be blind, but even she could see that was never going to work."

"Although…" she continued, "Old mama may be able to help you… for a price."

I stopped in my tracks, unsure what to think. I didn't trust the woman any further than I could throw her, but then again, if she did know a way in, then it just might be worth it. I turned around and looked her straight in those dead eyes, and, certain I was going to regret it, I asked the question I knew she was after.

"You saying you know a way in?" I asked.

"Perhaps…" the woman said with a knowing smile, "Mama knows many things… the Sight shows her what her eyes cannot, and the Sight never lies. It can reveal all you need to know, of course, the answer you receive may not be the one you expect… and like all things in this world, nothing comes for free."

"It's the chems, my child. They open the mind to a greater reality, beyond the universe that our flawed and imperfect eyes can perceive. And that is all I need, it's nothing really, just a little med-x to calm these old bones. I'm sure an adventurer like yourself carries an extra shot or two in case of emergencies…"

"And there it is!" I yelled, "I knew this old rust bucket didn't know a damn thing, you're just out here looking for an easy fix, well you can go ahead and take your "Sight" and shove it right up your wrinkled old-"

"Jacob!" Ilya yelled.

"Oh please, don't tell me you're actually falling for this? This has scam written all over it!"

"I don't care! That is no way to speak to a poor old woman just looking for some help! And besides, why not let her try it? She seems to have you pegged pretty well, and she must be doing something right if she's managed out here by herself. What could it hurt really? It certainly isn't as if you have any better ideas."

"I can't believe you are actually entertaining this…this… insanity! No, no way. Not happening. There is no way I'm giving up one of my last chems to some gypsy on the street, and that's final!" That should have been the end of it, but before I knew what was happening, Ilya had snatched the pack off my belt and tossed it to the old woman.

"Thank you, my child…" She said blissfully as she stuck the needle into her arm, and I watched in disbelief as the last of my med-x vanished into her veins. She rolled her eyes into the back of her head, and a look of absolute ecstasy appeared on her face. When she finally spoke again, it sounded as if she were drifting a million miles away.

"Mama can see… a man out of hope and a girl out of time, two lost souls on paths intertwined, and so very far from home. Your destiny awaits, far from the shadow of the Wall and beyond the reaches of the Commonwealth, through the great ghastly veil and past temples of gods long dead. There, you will find what you seek… But beware my child, for even to this day the radiation does burn, alive with the fire that was lit so very long ago."

The woman's breath became heavier and more labored, and she struggled to speak as the sweat poured down her face, the chemicals ripping through her at a terrifying rate. The once blissful expression was replaced by one of pure terror, and without warning, the woman seized and convulsed. She cried out in agony, and to my horror, every eye in the marketplace suddenly turned toward us.

"Can you not hear the cries?" She screamed like a woman possessed.

"They are calling out from beyond the grave! Ancient echoes are rising up from the dark, whispers of men gone mad and the war that time forgot. Lo! What happened before shall happen again, the endless cycle of the downfall of men! The truth is hidden in history's pages, but beware! Beware, my child, the man with a thousand faces!"

"MAMA MURPHY!"

A yell echoed throughout the marketplace, and just like that, the woman's fever broke as suddenly as it had appeared. She woke from her trance with a desperate gasp, and I stood dumbfounded as a pair of refugees came rushing to her side. An Asian man knelt beside her with tears streaming down his face, his wife, on the other hand, glared daggers at us before she began demanding answers.

"What the hell is going on here, mama? Were you bothering more people about the Sight again? Please tell me you didn't trick them into giving you more chems…"

"…It is the only way… I can See…" Mama Murphy said through heaving breaths.

"God dammit, mama! If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, that "Sight" don't bring nothing but pain and misery. Why do you think we got stuck out here in the first place? I swear to God, those chems are going to be the death of you!"

"I can… take care… of myself!" Mama Murphy retorted with as much effort as she could muster, but the woman just shook her head.

"Let's go Jun, mama's going to need to sleep this one off, _again_ ," she said, full of spite. Her husband nodded as he wiped the tears from his eyes, and began to lead the hovercraft away when suddenly Mama Murphy broke free and grabbed ahold of Ilya. The woman drew her in close and whispered frantically into her ear before Jun was able to tear her away, leaving Ilya looking speechless.

"W-where are we going," Mama Murphy asked, suddenly seeming very lost and confused. "Are we going to Sanctuary? We are supposed to go to Sanctuary… We'll finally be safe there, you'll see. When are we leaving?"

"Mama Murphy… don't you remember?" Jun said as he led her away, his voice quavering. "Sanctuary… Sanctuary is gone. There ain't no place left to go…"

"No, not gone my son. Hiding. Sanctuary is hidden in darkness, awaiting the rise of a new dawn."

"Oh, mama…"

I fumed as I walked back through the marketplace in silence, refusing to so much as look at Ilya as we approached the Wall once again. Not only had her little stunt screwed me out of one of my last chems, but it'd be a goddamn miracle if I didn't get recognized after all that.

"Well, I hope you're happy!" I hissed under my breath, "Last of my goddamn painkillers and you throw them away to the first beggar you meet! Let me ask you something, have you any idea what it feels like to get shot? Well I do, and let me tell you kiddo, it ain't no fucking picnic. A stimpak might save your ass, but without something to dull the pain, then you may as well use a deathclaw talon to extract the bullet… Hey, are you even listening to me?!"

Ilya was lost in her own head once again, with that same look of determined concentration on her face that I'd seen the night before. I rolled my eyes as we kept walking, I may as well have been talking to the Wall itself. As we approached the main square once again, we saw a line of carts sitting right outside the front gate. I glared as I watched the guard from before inspecting each one in turn, pulling back the tarpaulin and taking stock on his clipboard, when suddenly Ilya was pulling me into the shadows and motioning for me to keep quiet. I watched curiously as she crept up alongside a shop stand and, with surprising deftness, she snatched a small package of firecrackers off the counter and turned back towards me.

"Have you got a light?" She whispered.

"Well, would you look at that… What are you up to, kid?" I asked, just a little impressed as I handed over my gold-plated lighter. Ilya said nothing as she snuck around one of the carts and waited until the guard finished with his inspection. As soon as Ilya heard him give the head driver the all clear, she lit the fuse and tossed the firecrackers at the feet of a brahmin. She rushed back towards me just as they went off in rapid fire, and the creature bawled out a terrified wail, both of its heads rearing back in panic. Before anyone knew what was happening, a mad two-headed cow was stampeding through the marketplace, and reeking havoc through all of downtown.

While the guards were scrambling around like radhens with their heads cut off, Ilya and I crept around the caravan and slipped into the back of a cart. I couldn't believe our luck as the driver returned and got behind the reigns without so much as a second look. As I laid back, listening to the chaos outside, I couldn't help but wonder what the old woman had said to Ilya to change her mind. She may have been madder than a patient at Parson's, but at least she'd been good for something. I decided not to worry about it as the cart began to move, and I watched through a gap in the tarpaulin as we slowly crossed over the threshold, a dazzling patchwork of brightly colored lights appearing above me.

We were in.


	8. Ch 7: Same Old Story, Whole New Century

**Chapter 7: Same Old Story, Whole New Century**

* * *

We were packed in tighter than a can of Longneck Lukowski's, with a smell that was twice as bad. Of all the carts we could have picked, we managed to find the one that was filled with fresh salvage scraped off the bottom of the Charles. The stench of rotting fish and mirelurk could have peeled the flesh off of a ghoul's backside, but I held myself together as the cart slowly came to a stop.

I looked out and watched as the driver walked into one of the newly constructed warehouses sitting on the edge of town. As soon as the coast was clear, we tore off the tarpaulin and clamored out as fast as we could. We only enjoyed a few short moments before we heard the driver coming back, and so we dashed down the darkened alleyways until at last, we were able to slip in with the rest of the crowd as they bustled from shop to shop during the mad midday rush.

As we made our way through the main square, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Colorful neon lights dazzled us from all sides as the once dingy shanties now shone with new coats of paint. Not only were there renovations that made my old home look almost new, but there had been massive expansions into the outer stands until the city had nearly doubled in size. Even Ilya looked a little impressed, as the shopkeepers struggled to keep up with the trader's demands and the line for Takahashi's noodle stand snaked beyond the chapel door. Even old Moe Cronin was doing well as he stood on his soapbox, calling out to passersby "Swattahs here, get ya swattahs! Can't say ya really from Diamond City without ya very own, gen-u-ine swattah!"

The contrast to the outside couldn't have been more stark. While the world around us had been crumbling beneath our feet, it seemed life behind the Wall had only been getting better than ever. As the once familiar sounds and smells of the Diamond surrounded me, I began to wonder why I had ever left it in the first place.

That was, until I saw the sign.

Though the rest of the city may have passed it by, it hadn't changed one bit. Crooked, cracked, and written in a style straight out of a history book, the words "Publick Occurrences" bore down on me with a green glare that always reminded me of a certain someone else I knew…

There really was no way of knowing how she would react to seeing me again, especially after all of this time, but it wasn't as if I had a choice in the matter. She was my last hope, and if I was lucky, it would be in and out with no questions asked and I could finally get out of the Commonwealth at last.

A pang of guilt ripped through me at the thought. As we walked up to that red door I'd seen so many times before, I knew I hadn't been a saint in all of this, and she had been there for me more times than I could count. Still, I shoved the feeling down as I reached up and knocked on that door, and we waited.

And waited.

And waited…

But nobody answered.

I tried once more, but still, there was nothing.

Curious, I tried the handle and to my surprise, the door fell open at the slightest touch. Checking to make sure no one was watching, I slowly peeked my head inside and called out.

"Hello?"

At last, I got my answer, in the form of a lamp cracking over my skull.

* * *

"JACOB?!"

The shrill shriek reignited the throbbing in my head as I came to, lying on the ground and staring up at a face I never thought I'd see again. The shock reflected in those eyes told me she'd thought the same, and probably wished it would have stayed that way.

Well, that was Piper Wright, alright. And lord knew she always thought she was right too. She'd tell you so herself, and point to a long list of articles to "prove" it too. Journalist, photographer, and possibly the most stubborn woman I'd ever known… She looked exactly the same as the day we'd first met, right down to the ink stains on her hands. She was wearing her long red trench coat, a pack slung over her shoulder and a "Press" ticket sticking out of the band of her old newsie cap. It was a look I'd seen her don a million times before, just before she went out on the prowl for her next big scoop. Well, she caught something alright. Too bad I was the last thing she was looking for.

"What are you… how did you… I mean… WHAT?!" The black-haired woman sputtered in disbelief, shocked into a rare bout of silence before she finally remembered that we were still standing out in the open. Curious stares were already turning our way as she snapped to her senses.

"Dammit, never mind, just get him inside, quick!"

Before I knew what was happening, I was being dragged inside by my arms and legs, but no sooner had the door shut behind us, then I was dropped to the floor faster than a sack of nuclear waste. Suddenly I was under attack, tiny fists of fury were beating down on me from all sides while Ilya stood shocked in the corner.

"What … the _HELL_ … are you doing here?!" Piper screamed as she landed a punch to my gut and a kick to my ribs. "Or better yet, where were you three months ago, huh? You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here after what you pulled, Jacob Burns. Do you honestly have ANY idea what you put me through? Well, do you?!" She said before kicking me once more for good measure.

"Well, a fine hello to you too!" I yelled as I staggered to my feet. "Oh no, don't help me get up or anything, I've only been living on the street and running for my life for months on end, what with the Brotherhood at my back and the bounty on my head, which you just cracked open by the way, thanks for that. Really," I said as I rubbed at the newly forming welt and it occurred to me I was bleeding. "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me, ya know, not being dead and all, but hey, I guess that's one way to greet an old friend."

" _Friends?_ Oh so, we're _friends_ now are we? Just regular old pals!" She howled in response. "That's real rich coming from you. The last time I checked _friends_ don't disappear without so much as a goodbye. _Friends_ don't make promises they can't keep, and _friends_ don't leave _friends_ stranded in the middle of nowhere without any way home!"

 _Oh boy, here we go again…_ I thought, as I rolled my eyes. It was just like Piper to make this all about her, as if I had just abandoned her out in the wilderness to die when she knew damn well that wasn't the case. I wanted to say something, but it was far too late now. She was already in full swing, brewing up a guilt trip bigger than a radstorm in the Glowing Sea.

"What ever happened to "Come with me Piper", "I can't do this without you Piper", "I need you with me on this Piper," or maybe you remember this little gem? "Don't worry, I'll be right back," she added with a smirk, and just like that, it was like when we were dating all over again. Fighting every night, trying to one up the other with whose got it worse.

"Oh yeah? Well, you certainly didn't take long to get over it, now did you?" I snapped as my head began to throb harder than ever.

"How about these headlines, huh? Any of these ring a bell? ' _NEWSFLASH! Prydwen still Burns in Bay as Burns roams Free'_ , or how about ' _Jacob Burns… Man Gone Rogue or Synth in Sheep's Clothing?_ ' And then there's that exclusive interview you did… you know, the one with the "anonymous" source? Now I KNOW you have to remember that one… it was everyone's favorite after all. Your best seller."

I smiled with a smug satisfaction as her face flushed a deep red. She knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Oh that's right, I read it. In fact, so did everyone in Goodneighbor. And I can't tell you what a treat it was to hear it recited onstage at the Third Rail… every night… for three weeks straight."

I mimed the headline in the air with all the flair and gusto Hancock himself would have given it.

" _I DATED A SYNTH!: The True Story of Sex, Lies, & Betrayal - The Secret Lover of Jacob Burns tells all!_" I spat on the ground.

"How could you do that to me?! You know damn well I ain't a synth, and you know exactly why I was leaving the Brotherhood, and you go and publish that crap? Why? Just to hurt me? To make money? Just tell me what the hell possessed you to publish that…that… tabloid trash!" I yelled, a little too proud of that one as I watched the blow land home, her face white with rage.

"Don't. You. _Dare…_ try to turn this on me, Jacob!" The woman doubled down even as she reeled from the blow, " _You_ were the one that broke your promise, _you_ were the one who walked out on us, and _YOU_ were the one that broke that little girl's heart! I waited for you Jacob… _WE_ waited for you, and when we needed you most, _you were nowhere to be found!_ "

"Oh _puh-leeese_ , you've been doing just fine on your own. I'm the one that's been eating out of trash cans and cleaned out stockpiles. You think a 200-year-old Salisbury steak is bad? Try one from fifty years before _that_. And you? Hell, you've been living it up and raking in the caps hawking that cheap, two-bit, cage-liner you call a pa-"

" _AHEM_ …"

We whipped around to see Ilya standing there with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, none too happy with the whole situation. With the shock of everything, both Piper and I had completely forgotten that we weren't the only ones in the room.

"Who. The hell. Are you?" Piper said as she glowered menacingly at the girl, sizing her up as she did.

"Oh! Um, hi… er hello!" she stuttered, suddenly much less sure of herself now that Piper's cruel gaze was suddenly upon her. "I'm Ilya. Ilya Astor." Piper glared as the girl offered her hand, but said nothing.

"Uh…" she said as she withdrew, "I realize that this is a personal matter, but um, this fighting really doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere, and, I mean, I know I'm a stranger and all, and maybe it's not my place to say anything, but…"

"Oh, I wouldn't, if I were you."

"But-"

"I really… _really_ wouldn't, if I were you…" she continued dangerously, as her eyes narrowed into slits and her hand twitched towards her pistol.

"Maybe… maybe I should just go…" Ilya was out of breath, a little bit of a panic flitting across her face.

"Best idea I've heard all day."

"…"

An icy wind blew through the room cold enough to freeze over Saugus Forge and it was then I realized there had been a terrible misunderstanding.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a second Piper, you got this all wrong! She's just some vault dweller I picked up yesterday, see?" I signaled to Ilya and she untied her trench coat to reveal the pristine blue vault suit underneath. Piper's expression softened ever so slightly towards Ilya, who was finally able to breathe again.

 _"_ So, why are you both here, then?" She said, her words laced with genuine curiosity beneath her loathing.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go," I confessed. Piper let out a short dry laugh.

"Why am I not surprised?

"Hey, It was either that or leave her out there to die! Kid's got no idea what she's doing, wants to run off playing hero. Trust me when I say I wouldn't come digging all this up if I didn't have to.

"What do you want from me then?"

"What do you think I want? I want to know if you'll take her in or not?"

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as Piper smiled and shook her head, almost laughing as she did.

"I'm afraid not, _friend_. As it happens, I have much more pressing matters to attend to, and don't have time to watch after your stray, so if you don't mind…" She opened the door.

"I really have to get back to packing."

Piper turned and walked right passed us, leaving the door wide open as she returned to filling her pack full of supplies. I turned to Ilya, who looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Look I'm sorry about all of this, this may take some time to smooth over. It's my fault really, I should've known she'd react like this…"

"She… she wouldn't have really shot me, would she Mr. Burns?" She was more shook up than I expected, and it was a hard one to answer, to be honest. Piper can be a tad… unstable when angry.

"Don't worry about it, it's me she's mad at. Why don't you head into the market and pick up some new clothes or something, while I try to work this out, okay?" I said as I handed her a small bag of caps, the absolute last of my money in a single pouch. "Just, try to blend in. Do what everybody else is doing, okay? You can manage that, right?"

"I guess…" she said uneasily as she weighed the bag curiously in her hands. "You really think you can get her to change her mind?

"I sure hope so…" I said as I looked back over my shoulder to see Piper violently shoving useless knickknacks into her pouch instead of the bandages and stimpaks sitting right next to them.

"Good luck…" she said. "You're going to need it."

* * *

Once the door was closed, I turned back to Piper to find her holding a small doll she must have picked up by accident. Her stare was a million miles a way as she let out a quavering sigh and dropped it into her pack.

A part of me still wanted to wrap my arms around her, hold her for hours and tell her how very sorry I really, truly was. But we were long passed that point. I had burned down that bridge the same way I'd burned down the Prydwen. Funny how much destruction can happen that way, by one man simply doing nothing at all…

It pained me now, but once upon a time, I'd actually thought of making a home here, living my life as a guard or a merc or even a detective if I'd ever went in for that job posting… But then again, things had always been far too complicated for either of us to make that happen.

When we'd first met, I had just been reassigned to one of the smallest outposts imaginable, one that sat just outside of Diamond City. It was the kind of place you only got sent to for stepping on the wrong toes and I had stepped on the biggest.

Arthur Maxson…

Even after all these years, I never once addressed him as "Elder". We used to be friends, comrades… but he and I started having the occasional disagreement. It was fine at first, just like when we were kids debating over how and whether technology could be used for the greater good. I never could get him to come over to my side, but it always ended with a laugh and a race to the next class.

But then things changed. Once I started questioning him on his methodology, we stopped seeing eye to eye. And "Once a man breaks ranks," he told me, "I am no longer that man's friend, but his superior, and I must act accordingly." So as punishment for my disobedience, he sent me to serve under none other than Paladin "Diamond" Danse.

Trust me, no one called him that to be cute and no one _dared_ say it to his face. The man had a love of rules and order that bordered on zealotry and found nothing holier or more pure than that of the chain of command. If you didn't follow his rules, you weren't in his company, and that didn't matter if you were injured, on a vertibird, or halfway through your midmorning shit, you'd better get out of his sight or he'd take you out himself. Hence, "Hard-as-a-fucking-Diamond" Danse.

At that time, the city was still wary of the Brotherhood, and not for nothing either, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to blow off some steam in the few hours I had while the hard ass was asleep. I figured out how to sneak in pretty easily, a small bribe here, a greased palm there, and I was finally enjoying myself for the first time in weeks. I became a regular at the Dugout Inn and got to be good friends with Vadim the bartender, who taught me how to play Caravan along with the rest of the locals.

It was on one of these nights that she walked in. Tall, dark, and mysterious, she sat at the end of the bar and gave me a wink with those pretty green eyes. I smiled back but didn't make a move. The Brotherhood strictly forbade fraternizing with the native populace. Our mission was paramount and our mission was finite. Once the Institute and their synthetic menace had been neutralized we'd be out of this dump and back to the Citadel and civilization for good.

But, that didn't stop her from coming over with a whiskey in hand.

"Hey, there fella… you look in good shape, you a mercenary?" She asked coyly.

"Ah… no, well sorta, I guess." I shrugged as I accepted her offering.

"No, you're right. You're too disciplined for your average mercenary, too sweet to be a gunner, definitely too sane to be a raider… So who are you really? I know every face in this city and I'm certain I've never seen yours before."

"I'm a wanderer, nothing more."

"Oh aren't we all… The names Piper, Piper Wright. What's yours?"

I wish I could say I put up a fight, but the truth was I never had a chance. I'd been so lonely and frustrated with everything the Brotherhood had thrown at me, that I was dying for someone to talk to. As it turned out she and I had a lot in common… maybe a little too much. That didn't matter then, but it mattered a whole lot right now.

It was time to swallow my pride, for the sake of the girl.

"Piper, I… I'm sorry. I know that ain't worth much, but it's the truth. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, I had every intention of picking you up, things just… didn't work out that way. But please don't take it out on the kid. It really ain't her fault, she's helpless is all. If she's left alone out there she'll get eaten alive, whether by a raider, a deathclaw, or a fricken' mole rat for christ's sake!"

I turned around, expecting to see a smile on her face. We used to love making fun of the vault dwellers, they always had some exciting image of life in the wasteland, of action, adventure, and treasure by the wagon full, but every one wakes up in the end, whether by hunger, exhaustion, or a bullet to the brain.

But instead of a smile, it was tears streaming down her face.

"Whoa…" I said, taken aback. This wasn't like Piper at all. She was an emotional woman, but never like this.

"Piper, what's going on? Seriously." I led her to the couch where she sat and wept for several minutes before she was able to speak again.

"It's Nat, Jacob. She's… gone!" Piper let out a wail that broke my heart, but not as much as the thought of little Natalie being out there all alone. My heart sank faster than my own hopes. Nat… little Nat. How could this happen? It seemed just yesterday I was playing with the kid right here. I looked around at Piper's disheveled home, just beyond her early century printing press where Nat's tiny little bedroll lay empty, surrounded by toys covered in dust.

Poor kid couldn't be more than eleven years old.

"When did this happen? Who would even want her?"

"Who do you think? The same monsters that kidnap everyone these days, but no one wants to talk about!" She said spitefully as she reached for another tissue.

 _Oh god, this couldn't get any worse, could it?_ It was then that a thought crossed my mind and struck me. I got down on one knee and put my hands carefully on Piper's shoulders. I made her look me in the eye as I asked her the next question.

"When? When did this happen?"

"Only… _sniff_ … just last night, and of course the guards are as useless as ever and just my luck the detective was gone before I could see him this morning…" Piper continued on, but I wasn't listening anymore.

Last night… Could it be? I mean, it's a hell of a coincidence, that's for sure. But what are the odds that on the same night I unearth a mysterious Pre-War girl surrounded by early synths that Nat, my ex lover's little sister and only living family, would go missing?

"And honestly I wouldn't put it past that slime ball if he _did_ look the other way with Nat, just like all the others. Don't you think?

"Uh… huh?"

"Oh, just forget it! You never did listen to a word I'd say," she hollered as she stormed up from the couch.

"Wait, hold on, I was just thinking about what I could do to help."

"Help? You want to help? Alright, you can start by telling me the truth."

"About what?" I feigned ignorance.

"Oh, for once in your damn life Jacob, just tell the truth!" She said, exasperated. "You said you'd be there, that we could trust you, but you never showed up. What could have been so damned important for you to leave Nat and me in the middle of nowhere? How did the synths get ahold of your vertibird, and why didn't you write me, even just once!? Just tell me, Jacob, _what on earth happened that night?"_

…The truth.

The truth was a funny thing.

The truth had gotten me into trouble with the Brotherhood, and the truth had gotten me labeled a synth by everyone who had heard it. If I told her the truth now, she would accuse me just like all the others, not that I could blame her for not believing me, hell _I_ barely believed me. But I know what I saw and I know what I've done, and not done for that matter. I know I'm still flesh and blood and I can say, for whatever it's worth, I'm proud of the choices I've made. One of them at the very least.

"I'm sorry." It was all I could say. Piper just shook her head and sighed, not the least bit surprised.

"…Me too, Jacob. Me too."

We stood there in silence for a long time, neither sure what to say to the other. At last a knock broke the quiet and Piper walked over to the door. She opened it ever so slightly and spoke to the person outside. She let out a great sigh as she turned back to me.

"Sorry Jacob, looks like this one's for you," she said as she opened the door wide.

With one look, I knew my luck had just run out.


	9. Ch 8: The Mayor of Diamond City

**Chapter 8: The Mayor of Diamond City**

* * *

On the front porch stood none other than the guard from the gate, his jaw clenched tight and a vein popping on his forehead. To make matters worse, he had Ilya in hand and what looked like a brand new laser pistol from the armory. My eyes flitted between all three of them before it dawned on me what must have happened.

 _You've got to be kidding me._

"Jacob Burns?" the man said more than asked. I looked at Piper, but she only shrugged as if to say _, What do you want me to do about it?_

 _Well shit_.

"…Yeah?" I replied.

Without another word he grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and the next thing I knew we were being dragged off like a couple of common criminals. To my surprise, however, we passed right by the security office and instead headed straight for a lift marked "Mayor's Office". Looks like we'd garnered more attention then we'd bargained for. The brute dumped us to the ground as he pressed in the passcode and the lift began to rise into the scaffolding. The man stood in fuming silence as the lift came to a stop and he hurled the both of us into the reception area.

"AHH! Ow, that hurt! How dare you, you great brute! You'll be hearing from my lawyer about this!" Ilya hollered at him, but the man only laughed as he walked by a confused looking secretary and into the next room.

"What the hell happened back there?" I hissed as soon as the man was gone, "I thought I told you to blend in, what ever happened to that?"

"Bottle caps, that's what happened!" She hissed back as we both got to our feet. "You gave me a bag of _bottle caps_ , what was I supposed to do?"

"So you _stole_ a laser pistol?" I groaned, "What the hell do you need a laser pistol for?"

"Well I'm going to have to defend myself somehow if I'm going to find my father's vault," she said as she dusted herself off and sat down on the hard sofa.

"Are you still going on about that? I thought we put that nonsense behind us. What else did you try to steal?"

"Well, let's see, I got a canteen, a pack of stimpaks, a couple bandages, the gun, obviously, and uh… oh right. A little bit of ammo to go with it, but that was right about the time I got caught… of course," she pouted.

"What?! Why not try taking the whole armory with you while you're at it? Sheesh, you could've at least picked a better time. It's packed to the gills out there, and with everyone on edge as they are… Why would you think that was a good idea?"

"Maybe because you gave me junk?"

"I told you to do one thing, _one thing_." I said as I slumped down next to her, barely able to believe my luck. "Just stay out of trouble, that's all I asked, and you couldn't even manage that! And to think you wanted to drag me halfway across the Commonwealth…"

"Bottle. CAPS!" She hissed again.

"IS. MONEY!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I jumped up. The guards had their weapons trained on me in two seconds flat, but I didn't care. Didn't this girl know the first thing about anything? "It's cash, dinero, moolah, scratch, dough. IT'S MONEY, KID! Please tell me you still have them at least?"

When she couldn't look me in the eyes, I knew.

"Oh god, you threw them out," I said as I slumped back into the seat. Now I really had nothing. Not a bullet, not a cap, and not a chance in hell out of this one.

Just then, the guard came back out of the other room.

"The Mayah will see youse now _Jacob Burns_." The man said with relish as he ushered me inside. As I looked back at Ilya I tried to give her a look of encouragement, but it only came out as a weak smile.

* * *

A long mahogany table stretched out before me, with several ornate dining chairs to match. The interior of the old commentator's box had undergone quite the transformation since I'd last seen it. Gone were the beat up old furniture and crowded stacks of files, replaced by the fine Old World relics and ornate trimmings one would find in only the best preserved ruins of the upper-class.

Even with all those seats, I chose to stand. Something about all that extravagance made me uncomfortable, even a little sick to my stomach. I heard the click of the door behind me as the guard left me alone.

I didn't have to wait long. Just then the Mayor came blustering in, working up more of a sweat than usual. His rotund figure and ever tightening pants had a way of making him look like a ham stuffed into a white suit.

"Jacob!" he said, his jowls quivering in agitation. "It really is you, why I thought I told you to never come back here again! I've got a flood of refugees at my door, a clan of Super Mutants pushing on my territory, and a synth problem that just won't go away, and yet the worst thing to happen to me all day was _you_ show up." He said as he went to the bar and poured himself a drink.

I laughed to myself, remembering the good old days when all the mayor did was deny deny deny. Piper worked hard to expose the truth about the synths, and once she finally had, how was she rewarded? By the mayor flipping the script like a true politician. Suddenly he'd always been against the synths and he pandered to the people by shutting the gates up tight. He was the kind of man that would tell you the sky was green if it suited popular opinion, a flaw I knew I could exploit.

"You know McDonough," I began silkily. "I get why you're worried about the Brotherhood. We have technology that could flatten a burg like this in two seconds flat. But that kinda tech is a million miles away, as is anyone who could pose a real threat to you, but you know who isn't? Why your good friendly neighbors to the east, that's who…"

"Hancock doesn't take too kindly to people messing with his business, and as it stands, I'm still his business. I'm sure you've heard about the deal we've struck, how I'm under his protection so long as I'm in his territory and you and I both know how far his territory goes… So unless you feel like picking a fight with Goodneighbor, you better let me and the kid go." I smiled to myself. It might have been a lie, but there was no way he'd risk that kind of confrontation with a faction so close. Besides, what were the chances I'd been spotted coming out of the mine, anyway? As far as anybody knew, I was nuclear waste and fifty feet under.

"Hmm, yes. Funny you should mention my good-for-nothing brother…" He said with a scowl on his face. I felt my heart sink into my chest as he reached over to an old radio and flipped the switch.

"Funny indeed, as he just happens to have a few words to say on the matter himself." He turned the dial and the quivering, uncertain voice of the local radio host quickly changed to static until at last, he picked up another signal, with a voice I'd recognize anywhere.

"Listen up Commonwealth!" the man practically snarled, "This is John Hancock, Mayor of Goodneighbor, and I got a little message for my good, _good_ friend, Jacob Burns." His voice lowered dangerously, as rough and jagged as a rusty dagger.

"We had a deal Burnsie… you and I. I don't know what that means where you come from, but here? It's as good as blood. You gave me your word as a man, and yet here I stand empty handed just like I knew I would be. Makes me think I shoulda listened to Fahrenheit and lit you up like the 4th of July. I mean, leading a band of ghouls and freaks into an ambush? Dear old Maxson would be so proud…"

"Well, _friend_ , you better tuck that tail under and come crawling home like the dog you are, because if someone else has to drag you back for me, then you better believe I won't be putting you down easy…"

"So, Commonwealth! You heard what I said and that's right. I gotta right pretty pile of caps here going out to the first scavver to bring me Burns alive. Now that don't mean go easy on Old Burnsie, but he better be breathing when he gets here, because that bastard's mine!"

"So Burns, what's it gonna be? I get my money or I get your head. Either works for me, because as you know, a good neighbor always pays his debts…"

" _Always._ "

The message ended and the mayor switched off the radio before it could start again, just fine with me as I didn't think I could stomach hearing it again anyway. This whole trip was starting to play out like one bad joke. I swallowed the lump in my throat as he sat down at the table's end, folded his hands, and gave me a long hard look.

"Ah ha ha ha," I laughed nervously as I scratched the back of my head, racking my brain for something to say, but I had nothing.

"So, now you see the predicament you've put me in? If I hand you over to Hancock, then I have an entire army tearing down my door, but if I give you to the Brotherhood, well, who knows what my dear little brother would do…" The mayor trailed off as he took out a handkerchief and dabbed at his forehead. Hancock had always had a way of knowing exactly how to make your life a living hell.

"And then there's your little friend to contend with," he continued, "I haven't the foggiest idea what to do with her. No room left in the jail and Outfield's bursting at the seams, so I suppose banishment is all that's left."

"Now hold on a minute McDonough," I said, my voice finding itself again, "You can't just throw her to the Super Mutants, she's just a dumb vault dweller who ain't got a clue, I swear."

"As though your word has any clout here!" He laughed, his fat belly threatening to bust his belt. "Besides, what do I need another dweller from Vault 81 for? They're all useless to me." He waved his hand dismissively at the notion, but that's when I got a crazy idea. A truly mad and outlandish idea.

I could tell the truth. Well, most of it at least…

"What if she wasn't from Vault 81? What if she was from a new vault?"

"Oh, don't try to play me like that, there hasn't been a new vault discovered in the Commonwealth for over one hundred years. This must be the same ploy you tried with my brother, isn't it?

"But it's true!" I said, and for the first time, I meant it too. "She's from a brand new vault just outside of Cambridge, never been opened before. This girl was the only one alive, but we made it out before the damn thing collapsed. C'mon McDonough, you know how the people love a good vault story, just imagine what it would do for your numbers! You'd have a new mascot for your town, and all the support you'd need to win every election from here to eternity. And I can convince her to stay, all you have to do is keep quiet that I was ever here and let me slip out into the night.

"Hmm… it is interesting," he said and I felt a brief flash of hope. "What number was the vault? Do you know what the experiment was?"

"Oh… uh, it didn't really have a number. Or an experiment, but it is real!" I said hurriedly, but I could already see the disbelief on his face.

"My city is bursting at the seams as it is, and you want me to take in a thieving little nobody from a numberless vault that had no experiment whatsoever? I don't think so Jacob, in fact, I'd be better off handing her over to Goodneighbor to appease my little brother. A pretty face always had away of keeping him busy for a couple of weeks, enough time to get you off to the Citadel and face justice at the very least."

"You wouldn't dare," I growled.

"I most certainly would! It makes the most sense overall, it keeps both the Brotherhood and Hancock off my back and takes care of two trouble makers at the same time. All my problems solved in one fell move. I warned you, Jacob, I told you what would happen if I ever saw you again, and now, your radhens have come home to roost."

My head was spinning, everything was coming down around me. I was screaming inside my head but there was nothing I could do but watch as the mayor reached for the intercom and buzzed into the other room.

"Geneva dear, please alert the Brotherhood that I have Jacob Burns in custody and then arrange a meeting with Goodneighbor about taking in-"

"She's from before the war!" I blurted out, it was a Hail Mary for sure, but it was the last bargaining chip I had. If the girl wasn't interesting enough for him to take in, then we were both screwed.

The mayor took his finger off the button. "What was that?"

"The girl, she's from before the war. She was frozen in cryo-freeze for over two hundred years, her dad was some big shot at Vault-Tec and had a special one made just for her. Now, don't send her out there!" I said, exasperated. The mayor looked shocked as he stared me down.

"A… new vault you say? Are you sure? It wasn't, oh say, 111?" I couldn't believe my ears, there may be a chance after all.

"N-no, definitely not."

"And right outside of Cambridge? You don't say? You don't say…" He trailed off as he fidgeted with his drink.

"Please excuse me," he said all of a sudden.

"Wait, what?" But I didn't get an answer, the mayor was on his feet and out of the room in seconds, leaving me standing there completely confused. I could hear voices in the next room, but I couldn't make out a word.

The longer he made me wait, the more anxious I got. This was already too good to be true and I was starting to wonder whether I should have said anything at all. Piper's voice was ringing in my ears, old warnings from long ago that the mayor couldn't be trusted, but then again, she had always been the conspiracy theorist in the house, not me.

At last the mayor came back into the room, looking paler than usual as if he'd come down with a bad case of rad poisoning in the last ten minutes. He went to the door to make sure it was shut tight before going back around the table.

"Please take a seat, Jacob," he said, though I didn't believe the sincerity behind it.

"I'm fine thanks."

"I really think you should have a seat. Would you like a drink?"

"Uh… no, I'll pass," I said as I watched him pour another for himself. Something definitely wasn't right. Mayor McDonough was known about as much for his hospitality as his brother, that is to say, not at all.

"There is… someone who would like to speak with you."

"What's the matter McDonough, don't you run your own city?" I laughed as the man fidgeted nervously across from me. "So who is he? Who's the moneybags that's got you set up so nice, eh? Shoulda known you'd be up for sale." The mayor didn't respond, he kept staring at the table as if he were about to be sick.

"He'll… be here… any minute," he said as he took several deep breaths. I cast my eyes to the doorway, wondering who on earth could get the mayor in such a state.

Suddenly, the mayor collapsed on the table with a dull thud.

"What the hell?!" He wasn't moving, he wasn't breathing, but his eyes were wide open in a cold, glassy stare.

 _Oh my God, is he? He is!_ I thought. What the fuck just happened? One second the man's just fine, the next he's stone cold dead on the table! That certainly wouldn't sit well with the guards when they find me alone with their beloved mayor's corpse, that's for sure, but I had no idea what to do. I tried to think of something, but all I could hear was static coming from the radio.

Suddenly, the mayor jolted up as if he'd been prodded with an electrical wire. My heart hammered in my chest, those glassy eyes staring right through me. I wasn't sure if I should call for help or make a run for it, but as the skin around his mouth stretched and tightened into a mad smile, a foul terror ripped through me.

The thing that was once McDonough smiled again, and spoke in a voice entirely not his own.

"Hello Jacob, so very nice to meet you at last."


	10. Ch 9: The Man Behind the Mask

**Chapter 9: The Man Behind the Mask**

* * *

I was looking into the face of a nightmare.

His skin was deathly pale, his body stiff like rigor mortis. If I had thought the synths in the mine had been terrifying, I had no idea what terror could really look like. It was as if someone had scooped out the mayor's soul and stepped inside his body like a wrinkled old suit.

It was impossible to believe that this was the same man I'd been speaking to only moments before. That smile twisted even wider on his face, more inhuman with every passing second, and I felt myself break out into a cold sweat. My hands were shaking, my heart was thumping, and my mind was reeling as I collapsed into the nearest chair and just stared at the thing sitting across from me.

I knew what that was.

 _That's a synth._

It didn't matter how weak McDonough might have appeared, that… thing was the single most dangerous abomination in the Wasteland. A Gen 3 synth… and to think I had been speaking to it this entire time. There was no telling what kind of hardware that facade was hiding, but one thing was for sure, the real mayor was long gone, and there was a good chance that I was on the way to join him.

"Who… _What_ are you?"

"Well, that depends," the voice said silkily. "The body you see before you is a Class 2 Generation 3 synthetic bio-unit, a perfect replica of the man once known as Mayor McDonough. Now the man currently speaking through him? Why, that would be me." He smiled that mile long smile again and a cold chill rushed up my spine.

"I am the Director. Head of the Institute and Father to the Future. The synths are my creation." He gave a little bow as the weight of the situation crashed over me.

I couldn't believe it. My head was spinning, floating somewhere between nightmare and reality… This just couldn't be happening. Nobody encountered the Institute and lived to tell the tale, and here I was sitting face-to-face with the single most dangerous man in all the Commonwealth, possibly the entire world.

What the hell do you say to that?

"Yeah? Well, fuck you then!" I said, even as the sweat poured down the back of my neck.

"You always were a charmer, weren't you Jacob?" He said with a dry laugh, "Some things never change."

"Of course, there's no need for me to ask you _your_ name, your reputation precedes you. The fallen knight of the Brotherhood, Jacob Burns… Condemned by his own kin, cast out of every vestige of civilization in the Commonwealth, and forced to scrounge for scraps with the very abominations he once sought to destroy. Quite the tale, isn't it? So many unfortunate twists and turns, so many unpleasant surprises. One has to wonder how a single man can have such bad luck…" He trailed off, but the meaning wasn't lost on me.

"It was you, wasn't it," I said quietly as a lump began to form in my throat. "You ordered the attack. You sent those synths after me, after my vertibird. You crashed them into the main engine block with a nuke on board. You murdered my people and what's more, you let me take the blame for it." He smiled again.

"That I did, Jacob, that I did. Though is 'murder' really the right word? Your people vowed to wipe me and my synths off the face of the earth. What would you have us do? Wait until your dear Maxson was on my front doorstep? Any chess player knows the first move has the most advantage, and this? This is war. You should know that better than anyone, Jacob."

I spat on the ground.

"Bullshit! You declared war on the Commonwealth the moment you started kidnapping people and replacing them with these… these… things! Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Well my mother, God rest her soul, named me Shaun. A dreadful name if you ask me, especially for a man of science such as myself, but you may call me the Director, or Father if you prefer. I am used to both." He laughed again, a harsh dry noise that grated my nerves like rough sandpaper.

"You…" I said, my body shaking with rage and grief. Was this all just some game to him? He seemed endlessly amused by my every reaction, like a kid with a magnifying glass just before turning it to the sun to burn anything in its path.

"Son of a bitch! I ought to jump over this table and rip your synthetic heart right out!" I yelled as I got to my feet, but the Director merely wagged his finger with a disapproving tsk tsk tsk.

"Oh I'd be careful if I were you, Jacob," he said as casually as can be. "Do remember where you are, and to whom you're speaking. The guards are standing right outside and I am but the humble Mayor of Diamond City. Not only that, but you have no place to go. Why I could just take young Miss Astor as I pleased, and nothing could stop me. Yet here I am, willing to make a deal… with you.

"You want… a deal? With me?" I was taken aback, what could he possibly want from me?

"That's right," he said simply. "I am not the monster my reputation would have you believe. In fact, I am a very fair man. I have no desire to make a prisoner out of the girl, quite the contrary, the Institute would make the perfect home for the likes of her. She'd be protected from the harshness of this reality, from the raiders and the radiation, and she would be accepted as family among us. You would be paid of course, and given safe passage out of the Commonwealth. After all, you managed to accomplish a feat in a single night that all my synths couldn't manage over the past few decades. That certainly seems deserving of a reward, does it not?"

I sat there for several moments, barely able to believe what was happening. He was right of course, the Institute was the most advanced society out there. If anyone could keep her safe from the Wasteland, it was them. But then, who'd protect her from their mad experiments? Even if it was true he wouldn't actually harm the girl, who's to say he wouldn't go back on his word and turn me into the Brotherhood for the reward money…

"So, what? You're buying me off?" I asked.

"Oh certainly not!" He laughed again. "All I want from you is what you've already offered, to convince Miss Astor to come with us, to the Institute. Assure her just as I have assured you, our data indicates she will listen."

"Ha! Shows what you know, old man," I said with a smirk on my face, "Girl's got a mind of her own, and even if she didn't, I'd sooner jump off the tallest tower of the Wall then help the likes of you."

"Stubborn as always, though I suppose that is to be expected," the Director sighed as he slowly got to his feet. He strode over to the open window with calculated, mechanical steps and stood there for what seemed like an eternity, just staring out at the vast horizon with a look of almost sadness upon his monstrous face.

"Look out there Jacob, beyond the Wall of this so called city… Tell me, what do you see?" His voice seemed far away, as if lost in a memory that had never existed in the first place.

"What are you-" I began.

"Tell me what you see," he said again, and I got to my feet. I looked out over the city, a webbed jungle of rope bridges and makeshift shanties so much bigger than I remembered, but beyond that, there was nothing. Nothing but ruins as far as the eye could see.

"I see the ruins. All the wreckage the Old World left behind…"

"The past, you mean."

"I guess." I shrugged, what was he going on about?

"Hmm…" He seemed to mull that over for several moments before speaking again.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this you know. This world was meant to be something better, but history was stolen from us by the very men that had made the promise in the first place. The grand visions of our forefathers smothered by the greed of capitalism and the foolishness of communism. But you see, we needn't accept this reality, Jacob. We can make the world more than it was, as it always could have been."

"The Omega Vault…" he continued quietly. "It's important. It really is humanity's best hope for the future, no matter what the world might think. In it is contained the single most powerful experiment Vault-Tec ever attempted, a Noah's Ark and a Garden of Eden all in one. It can restore the world, not just restore it, but remake it better than ever before." His eyes shone with a dark brilliance as his voice dropped to a feverish whisper.

"Can you imagine such a world? Gone with the clunky gas spewing robots and dilapidated ruins, replaced by the clean efficient synths and the sleek glass towers of a shining utopia. No more hunger, Jacob, no more strife or war or radiation. We can make it a reality, the world can be remade, all that we need is the missing piece…"

"The Conduit," I said.

"That's right," he replied, a madman's smile twisting across his face. "And the girl will lead us right to it. To the Vault and to the Future, for the benefit of us all." I shook my head, barely able to believe what I was hearing. He was mad, no different than Vault-Tec and all the rest. Technology like that never turned out to be what it seemed, and always came at a terrible price. If what he said was true, then it was a power no man should have.

"And what happens when people reject your "utopia" hmm? What happens then? Do you replace them with one of your synths, to do with as you please just like our dear mayor here? You're just like the Old World you know, do you honestly think you can control all that power? That if only you'd been there then none of _this,"_ I said as I stabbed my finger angrily out the window, "would have happened? You're insane."

"Insane? Is that what you think? Quite the accusation coming from a man that cannot say for certain that he is indeed a man…" The Director said darkly.

"I… don't know what you mean," I replied uneasily.

"Oh come now Jacob, we've all heard the rumors. Have you ever felt… not quite yourself? Ever had a change of heart you just couldn't explain? Synths can go rogue you know, and thanks to the underground railroad we have no way of knowing who they are. Think Jacob, have you ever felt like there was something you'd forgotten but just couldn't remember? A dream that always faded away before you could catch it?"

 _You're a synth Jacob, admit it. There's no other explanation._

Fahrenheit's words echoed in my ears. It was a question that had been haunting me ever since the day the _Prydwen_ had fallen. Why? Why had I done it? I had never disobeyed a direct order like that before, and yet that night I broke nearly every oath I had ever taken. And how had the Institute known where to find me? No one had known where I was going, and yet Maxson had found me as well… just in time to watch my vertibird fly up into the air and head straight for the _Prydwen_ …

 _No._ I thought to myself, _I may have made mistakes, but they were mine. No one else made them for me. I'm sure of that._

Even so, my voice cracked as I spoke again.

"I know who I am, and I am no synth."

"Hmm, you don't sound so sure of that," the man said with another laugh before sitting back down at the table. "As fascinating as all this is Jacob, I grow tired of our little game. It's time for you to decide." And with that, he produced a laser pistol from beneath the table, and pointed it right at me.

"The truth is you've started something here, a chain reaction that cannot be reversed. If not me, then someone else. There is no stopping this vault, Jacob. Others will come after the girl as well, and you and I both know that she is not made for this world. You cannot protect her from this, nor yourself, so don't be so hasty to throw your life away for some vault dweller you've only just met. Be smart here, Jacob. Do the right thing.

The right thing.

The last time I did the "right thing" and everyone I had ever known was killed in hellfire, but what choice did I have? No one would ever believe me, it was the "mayor's" word against mine… I was at a complete loss. It was beginning to look utterly hopeless as the next song came on the radio, a disgustingly sweet number that left my insides churning.

"So what's it going to be, Jacob? It's very simple, really. You're either with us… or you're against us. There is no other choice."

I stared down the barrel of the gun.

"There's always a choice," I said with a glare.

"Wrong answer," he said as he raised the gun. "Goodbye, Jacob."

Just then, a massive tremor shook the room. The harsh metallic sound of about three tons of groaning steel and grinding gears roared throughout the stadium.

We both whipped around and looked out the window. The gates had been flung wide open.


	11. Ch 10: Out of the Park & Under the Wire

**Chapter 10: Out of the Park and Under the Wire**

* * *

Chaos.

Pure, unadulterated chaos.

People screamed as a flood of refugees came pouring into the plaza, desperate hands snatching up anything and everything in sight. Fights broke out all over the city as the residents ran terrified into their homes, leaving the poor traders to fend for themselves among the hungry masses. The guards struggled to contain the bedlam, overwhelmed by sheer numbers alone, but I saw more coming their way fully decked with riot gear and heavy artillery.

"W-what is happening?! My city! It's ruined!"

The Director stared aghast at the madness outside, watching his precious experiment crumble to the ground. I knew an opportunity when I saw one, and this was my chance.

"What have you d-!"

I turned and slugged the Director as hard as I could, knocking McDonough's fat body to the ground. I grabbed his gun and raced back through the door to find Ilya alone and looking confused.

"Jacob? What's going on?"

"No time to explain, kid. We're getting out of here," I replied as I ran to the lift, only to find three massive security guards already on their way up. To make matters worse, they all had a cold look in their eyes that told me they just might not be human. I ran to the elevator in the corner, but it was completely shut down. I scrambled around the room, desperately searching for a way out; stairs, a ladder, a pipe to climb down for Christ's sake, but there was nothing. Nothing except…

 _Well shit._

I grabbed a hold of the girl's shoulders and held them tight.

"Do you trust me?" I said.

"What?" She started, until she looked out the window and her eyes went wide.

"Oh no. No no no no no no no!" She cried as realization dawned on her, but it was too late. I threw both our weight against the window and we fell through the air amid a shower of broken glass.

WHAM

I landed with a hard thud twenty feet below, the girl lying on top of me. I rolled her off and got to my feet just in time for a bullet to whiz past my head. I looked up and saw the guards in the window, ready to fire. I grabbed the girl and we tore off just as a barrage of bullets rained down upon us.

"STOP! You'll hit the girl!" I heard the Director shout from above. I looked back just in time to see the guards jumping down after us, and before we knew it, they were on our tails and gaining fast.

My heart pounded in my chest as we jumped from roof to roof, racing over apartments, narrow walkways, and tiny tin shacks, the city a labyrinth of pipe and steel. We ducked behind a large air vent just as one of the guards whipped around a corner, opening fire precisely at me. I held the pistol tight as I dashed out of cover, firing wildly until the lasers hit their mark. Ilya screamed as the man crumpled to the ground in a heap of circuits and smoke, but I wasted no time. I grabbed her by the hand and we flew into the first house we could find.

Down, down, down, we raced through the empty apartments until at last we were back on the field and able to slip into the clamoring crowd. We moved along with a pack of looters as they dashed for the exit, the guards too preoccupied to stop us. The gate was just up ahead now, Outfield Plaza coming into view. If we hurried, we just might make it after all!

Just then, however, the mayor's voice blared out over the speaker system.

"Attention Diamond City! We are under attack! The notorious synth, Jacob Burns, has been spotted within the Walls and has taken a hostage. You must not let him escape! Shut the gates, SHUT THE GATES!"

At the order, the stadium began to shake once more. Ancient gears hitched and ground against the bare metal as it struggled to comply. I couldn't believe it. Something was jamming the system! I thanked God, or Atom or whoever was up there, but perhaps a little too soon. A terrible groan echoed throughout the stadium as the gate strained against itself, until finally, something snapped. The gates slammed shut.

Ilya and I doubled back as quickly as we could, but there was nowhere to go. All around me, I could hear a fearful murmur traveling through the already agitated crowd, all huddled together and whispering to one another. It seemed the threat of a synth was enough to subdue the savages within them, a few were even talking to the guards now as suspicious glares were being cast in our direction. I kept my head down as we waded through the waves of refugees, mentally kicking myself for wearing such a brightly colored disguise. We ducked down an alley as soon as we had the chance.

"What do we do now?" Ilya whispered. "We're surrounded, everyone's looking for you, and now we'll never make it out of that gate! There's got to be another way out…"

"Afraid not, this place hasn't survived this long in the middle of Boston by having holes in the walls," I said as I paced up and down the street. This was bad. This was really really bad. I peaked around the corner and saw it was packed with refugees, the guards questioning each with the promise of residency for information, a tantalizing offer for any Outfielder. I dashed down the alley only to find a patrol coming up that way, leaving us with only one other choice.

"Up! We have to go back up!" I yelled as one of the guards finally spotted us. We quickly found a ladder and raced across the rooftops once more, only this time, the guards were coming at us from all sides. I fired my gun, nailing one in the chest and another in the face, breaking the mask hiding the synth beneath. I could barely breathe as we climbed higher and higher, until at last, we found ourselves standing on the Wall itself, staring over a fifty-foot drop into a writhing sea of panic and confusion.

"Now what?!" Ilya cried as she looked back at the guards, gaining on us with every passing second. For a brief moment, I thought we were goners, until I spotted something tied to the highest point of the wall. An old power cable that connected to an apartment building across the way. If we timed it just right, we might be able to land on one of the balconies… I whipped off the orange suit jacket I'd been wearing and swung it over the cable, and hollered at Ilya.

"Grab on!"

"Are you serious?!"

"It's either this or get turned into a synth, your call sweetheart." She gave one last look at the men coming after her and grabbed on.

"Hold on tight," I said, and with that, I kicked off the wall sending us flying through the air. We whizzed above the mad scene below, the entirety of Outfield clamoring to get inside the Wall. People looked up and pointed at us, their mouths open wide in surprise and fear as they all started to yell.

We were about halfway down the line when I finally understood why they were yelling.

 _Rrrrrrrppp_

The fabric suddenly gave way and we were falling once more, Ilya screaming at the top of her lungs as we tumbled through the air. Luckily, we landed in a cart full of razograin and, quickly ignoring the irate shopkeeper, we got to our feet and ran down the first alley we saw. Soon the chaos was behind us, but it wouldn't take long for the synths to figure out where we'd gone.

It was then I'd realized exactly where we were. We had landed right next to an old passage of mine, one I'd used on those nights when I would come to the city in secret, and though she wouldn't much care for the smell, I knew it would be a safe way out.

"I know a way," I hollered back at Ilya, "But you're not going to like it," I said as I lifted up the vine-covered manhole. Ilya looked as if she wanted to protest, but we could hear the dogs barking as security was catching up. She pinched her nose and climbed down gingerly before I jumped down after her and closed the cover behind us.

* * *

We were immersed in complete darkness, the cold, stone walls slick with moisture and mold. Two hundred years had done nothing to dampen the smell of the sewers, only now there was a fishier twinge to the air thanks to the occasional mirelurk finding their way in from the river, which is exactly where we were headed. The bank would be dry this time of year, making for an easy escape back over to Cambridge.

That didn't make the trip any less unpleasant.

Nobody ever came down here, and for good reason too. Most of the locals called it haunted, bunch of primitive superstition if you asked me, though it wasn't without some merit. This wasn't just any sewer, after all, it was the Fens Street sewer, site of some pretty vicious murders back in the day. Of course, they were nothing compared to what a raider or Super Mutant would do if given half the chance, but still, it had been enough to scare off any Outfielders from holing up down here.

Ilya turned on the flashlight function of her Pip-Boy, casting an eerie glow all around us as we walked slowly forward, our dampened footsteps the only sound to permeate the quiet stillness. We carefully maneuvered around a trickling stream, Ilya's Geiger counter warning us that it was surprisingly irradiated. I handed Ilya a rad-x just to be safe as I took one my self.

"Never thought I'd have to use one of these," she said, finally breaking the silence. "Bad enough this place gives me the creeps, it feels like a tomb down here."

 _Not anymore,_ I thought to myself. Not since I cleared out the corpses anyway, but I figured I'd leave out the mutilated skeletons and bizarre messages I'd found when I'd first started using the tunnel. She had enough to worry about, after all.

We walked in silence for several minutes, my heart slowing down for the first time since I had heard the Director's horrible voice. I had to keep an eye out for the exit, a small hole in the wall that was just big enough to squeeze through, but it was easy to miss. If I wasn't careful we'd end up going in circles for hours.

"So, are you going to explain what happened or are you going to keep me in the dark?" She said after a while.

"Oh, that" I laughed nervously, "that was just your average android death squad masquerading as the friendly local police force, ya know?" I said with a large smile, but Ilya wasn't buying it.

"Jacob, this is serious," she said, a frown firmly on her face, "I need to know what's going on, and now." I sighed as I dropped the act.

"It's the Institute, Ilya. The ones who created the synths. They're coming for you."

"What?! But I don't even know what this "Institute" is!"

"Yeah, well, they know about you and your old man well enough…"

"But _who_ are they? I've never heard of anyone able to do what they do. How can they create something so advanced when they're living in a place like this?"

It was a good question, but the truth is no one knew. The Institute was shrouded in secrecy, the only clue anyone had to go on was the old CIT building. The Commonwealth Institute of Technology had been one of the most prestigious scientific schools in the country before the bombs fell, but the ruins had sat completely empty for centuries, with no trace of human life left behind.

"No idea," I said as we carefully stepped over a small clutch of mirelurk eggs, "I just know that they kidnap people and turn them into synths. But it would seem the Director thinks you can lead him to the Conduit."

She was silent for a long time before she spoke again.

"I wish my father were here. He'd know what to do."

I sighed again, I very much doubted that. He might've known where to go, but he'd probably have been just as helpless as Ilya was, if not more so. We walked for several more minutes, until at last, I spotted the opening. It was a tight fit for the both of us, but once we were through we found ourselves standing in a large drainage pipe, a pinprick of light shining in the distance.

"This must be the work of the Order, my father warned me about them, but I didn't listen." She said, chastising herself. "I should have known better. But what I don't understand is how we got out of there in the first place."

She was right. There I was, seconds away from death when a miracle falls out of the sky, or rather, slammed open the gates… It was like something was jamming the system from the inside, so either someone up there like me (fat chance on that), or it was sabotage. But who? Who inside Diamond City would do that to themselves? Who would even have access to the gates to begin with?

"We may never know," I said as we climbed out of the pipe and into the afternoon sun. "Chalk that one up as another mystery, I guess."

"Mystery? Oh you know how I hate to leave one unsolved," a voice said suddenly and we both looked up.

Sitting on top of an old restored motorcycle with her hair whipping in the wind, was none other than Piper Wright. A pack was slung over her shoulder and a smile on her face as she let out a delighted laugh.

"It's funny," she said, looking at me, "I remember you taking me on the exact same date…"

"Piper! I… you did this? But, how?"

"Let's just say I know a guy in the security office who got a different kind of surprise than he was looking for," she said with a wink.

"You… sabotaged the gate, for me? Why?" I couldn't help myself. The way we'd left it, you'd have thought she'd sooner feed me to ravenous night-stalkers than save my sorry ass, and yet there she was, right when I really needed her. She smirked at my bewildered expression.

"Oh, call it nostalgia, call it guilt, but I couldn't sit back and watch you get sent off to die. You're an asshole Jacob, but you're not a monster. And everybody deserves a second chance, even you. Besides, I never liked that mayor in the first place. Doesn't surprise me in the least that he's a synth."

"You knew?! But how?"

"I… might have bugged the mayor's office the last time I was in there," she said a tad sheepishly. "Not the most ethical thing I've ever done, but it did the job."

"So what are you going to do now?" I asked.

"I'm going after Natalie, anyway I can. Even if that means shaking down the mayor himself, or personally knocking down each door in the CIT, I'm going to find her and bring her home." I smiled, looks like we both had our own paths to follow. She revved up her motorcycle.

"Good luck, Jacob Burns. I hope you find what you're looking for." And with that, she drove off into the ruins of Boston, straight back to Diamond City I presumed. She was fearless, I'd always give her that, if maybe a little bit crazy.

Ilya stood speechless beside me, apparently just as stunned as I was, but with one look at the sinking sun, I knew our time was running short.

"Well, we better get going too," I said as I started moving towards the bridge.

"What?"

"You heard me. We better get going if we're going to make it to your father's house before sundown."

"Wait… are you saying what I think you're saying?" She said with a sparkle of hope in her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, you win. I'll take you to find the vault. Just don't get all sappy on me. Once we find this thing, I'm taking what I can and getting out of here, got that?" But before I knew it, the girl had me wrapped in a warm hug as she whispered a gentle "thank you" in my ear.

I sighed again as I hugged her back.


	12. Ch 11: Way Back Home

And I'm back in business! Sorry for the long hiatus, I have some pretty significant plot stuff coming up in these next couple of chapters and it required some time to hammer it all out. Good news is I already have 12 AND 13 fully written, so you'll see both of those in a week or two. Chapter 14's gonna be another difficult one, but 15 is already half written, so hopefully, I'll be back on track for the new year!

I'm not 100% happy with the article I use in this chapter, I may change it to reflect an earlier event so that it makes more sense in the given timeline. Just sayin'.

Enjoy!

—

 **Chapter 11: Way Back Home**

We woke up the next morning in an abandoned townhouse, having gone as far as we could the day before. Luckily for us, the place had remained intact over the years and made for a great hideout throughout the night. Besides, we'd both been exhausted and were in need of a well-deserved rest. Ilya greeted the day with a pearly smile and a skip in her step now that she had gotten her way. I, on the other hand, was left on edge, wondering how on earth I managed to get myself into this situation.

There were a million questions running through my mind, none of which I had any answers to. How on earth were we supposed to find this thing? And what were we going to find at her father's place that the Institute hadn't found already? I wished there was another way out of this, but If the Institute was after this vault, then it just might be everything Ilya said it was, and in the hands of someone like the Director…

I shuddered to think.

Just remembering the mad glint in his eyes was enough to send shivers down my spine. All my years in the Brotherhood of Steel had told me stories of Old World scientists and their wicked experiments, but nothing could have prepared me for that kind of evil face to face.

"So," I said as we walked along the empty boardwalk, "What's your plan? Once we get to your father's house, that is."

"Hmm? Oh, well we find whatever message he left for me and follow that to the Conduit, and then to the vault! Easy enough, right?"

"Ugh… and you made fun of _my_ plans," I groaned.

"Hey, I didn't know anything about this vault until yesterday, so I have an excuse, what's yours?" She smirked as she climbed atop the river wall and balanced along the edge.

"Can you at least tell me who else knows about it?"

"No idea, it was a top-secret project so no one should have known. That's why this has to be the work of the Order. I'll bet the Institute is working with them, or for them, or something. I mean, if they approached my father for help, why wouldn't they enlist the aid of others?"

"Great, so anybody then. Just like a madman to send his only daughter after the most dangerous and valuable vault in all the Wasteland, and without a clue no less." But before I knew it, Ilya was inches from my face, stopping me in my tracks.

"My father is NOT a madman! He was a kind and brilliant soul who sacrificed everything for me and I will not have you insulting his memory," she said with an indignant huff.

"Hey, whatever you say. I just wouldn't be so sure about that if _my_ dad worked for Vault-Tec…"

"What's that supposed to mean? I'll have you know my father was one of the heads of the Societal Preservation Program, thank you very much! Why, I bet there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of people that have my father to thank for being alive today!" She finished with an air of pride, but it was all I could do not to roll my eyes. She really was the most naive girl in all the Wasteland.

"C'mon, take a look around. Do you really think this is what the world would look like if Vault-Tec was legit? They were all the same Ilya, the Institute, Vault-Tec… they're nothing but power hungry monsters, willing to do anything to get ahead."

"Not. My. Father." The girl said stubbornly as she poked me in the chest.

"Believe what you want, kid. I'm just telling you the truth," I said as I shrugged her off and marched my way forward, leaving her fuming behind me.

We walked in silence for hours after that, which suited me just fine. I was able to concentrate on our surroundings and getting us to this place in one piece. Ilya had told me where the old house was, a riverside mansion overlooking the city. Girl must have had one sweet ride as a kid, that's for sure, but I was more concerned with what might be living there now. Nice places like that rarely stayed empty for long.

It was then I decided to examine the gun I'd stolen from the Director. It felt bulky and unnatural in my hands, never having been partial to anything other than good old-fashioned steel, but at least it had ammo. I happened to have a few spare energy cells in my pocket and decided to reload just in case, but the releasing mechanism was stuck. I was so preoccupied, that I barely heard Ilya's excited cry.

"There it is!" She yelled as I looked up.

The home was immaculate. It was as if the war had barely touched it. Built in the early 1800's, it's sturdy stone foundation had stood the test of time, but it was clear from the boarded up windows that it hadn't gone unnoticed.

I turned to speak to Ilya when I realized she was no longer at my side. I looked and saw her running into the house and I felt a panic rise into my chest. What was she doing?! She had no idea what might be hiding in there! I quickly finished reloading and raced after her.

The foyer was empty save for a few old relics strewn about the floor, the place having been looted a hundred times over by now. I heard a thump coming from upstairs and I raced after it, too afraid to call out for fear of waking something up from the shadows. I blew past room after room of ruined elegance, a crystal chandelier shattered on the floor, a piano smashed to pieces, and even an old grandfather clock gutted for parts. At last, I spotted a light at the end of the hall. I tore open the heavy wooden doors and stood stunned at the scene in front of me.

Ancient blood stains covered the walls, the rancid smell of death permeating every inch of the room. Whatever happened here had been gruesome, to say the least. Bloody scratch marks gouged the wood in a desperate attempt to get away, a futile effort by the looks of the bones that littered the ground.

This was the scene of a murder.

I covered my mouth as my eyes watered from the stench. The entire study had been torn apart, but unlike the rest of the house, this didn't look like some random looting. Every table had been turned, every book ripped out of place, and every drawer emptied out onto the floor. Someone had been looking for something.

Ilya stood in the middle of the room, her eyes open wide and a hand over her mouth. I didn't know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this.

I walked up closer to her, worried how she would take it all, when I noticed she had something in her hand. It was a faded article, the Early Morning Edition dated the day the bombs dropped. I caught sight of the headline and grabbed it from her as fast as I could.

 **CULT KILLER STRIKES AGAIN!**

 _Fear grips the city as the fifth member of the elite found dead in his home._

Corporate espionage. International infiltration. Ritual murder.

These are just a few of the theories experts are speculating after the city of Boston has been rocked by the fifth death in five nights. Esteemed scientist and scholar Dr. Isaac Astor was discovered in his study at his riverside mansion by a concerned colleague when he failed to show up for work this morning. The police still have no leads on these heinous crimes, but assure the Boston Bugle that the public at large has nothing to fear.

This reporter has his doubts.

Investigators have been evasive as to the manner of death, but have confirmed that all of the victims were high-ranking members of their respective organizations, and each had been found with "unusual markings" all over their bodies. Perhaps the most mysterious question is how the killer has managed to circumvent all security systems within the premises, leaving no trace of evidence behind. When asked for more information, officials stated that they couldn't comment as the investigation was still ongoing, but asked all citizens to remain vigilant in reporting any suspicious or communist activity.

Looking at the faded picture of Dr. Astor, it occurred to me how serious this all was. Not that it wasn't serious already, but Ilya's father hadn't just died in the blast, he'd been murdered… mere hours before the end of the world. I turned to Ilya to find tears streaming down her face, her body trembling as she pointed down lower in the article.

"These names… do you recognize any of them?" She asked, and I thought back to my squire days in the Brotherhood when we had studied Old World history, but nothing came to mind. I shook my head.

"West-Tek, Poseidon Energy, Big MT Company…" she went down the list. "These weren't just any men, these were the men that ran the country. This was huge."

"So the Order must have been cleaning house, huh? Tying up the loose ends before the bombs dropped. But why waste your time killing off doomed men?"

"Well maybe that's just it, they weren't doomed at all. They were all rich and powerful enough to have their own contingency plans for the end of the world. Maybe they were just preparing for the real war much later on…"

And that's when it hit me. The Order had been planning for this all along… for the apocalypse. They meant for it to happen. This wasn't some Old World plot rotting away in the dustbin of history, but a very present threat that had prepared for this exact situation, perhaps for this very moment…

"We shouldn't be here," I said as I spun around, ready to make a dash for the door, but just then I spotted something I hadn't before. A tall glass of brandy sat on the table in the corner, fresh condensation streaming down the side.

Suddenly, a door slammed somewhere down below. Slow, steady steps echoed down the ancient hallway as Ilya and I stood horrified. I drew my gun and held it tight, every creak of the house like needles on my nerves as the steps drew closer and closer…

At last, the doors opened. A figure entered the room, his long trench coat ghosting along the floor and a fedora hiding his face.

A shot fired out, followed by a scream.


	13. Ch 12: A Very Unexpected Guest

**Chapter 12: A Very Unexpected Guest**

"Hold your fire, hold your fire!" The yell echoed throughout the room as the figure doubled over in pain, but I kept my gun trained squarely on him, refusing to let the man out of my sight.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?!" I demanded as I approached the stranger on the ground.

"Ugh, the name's Valentine, and there's no need to be pointing that thing at me, so put it away, will ya?"

"Valentine?" I said curiously as I lowered my gun. "Detective Valentine, from Diamond City? I've heard of you…"

"Yeah, and I've heard of you too, Jacob Burns. Guess I should have listened when they said you were prone to friendly fire…" The man groaned as he got to his feet, one hand clutching his injured side.

But that's when I saw it.

A glint of steel as it reached up to adjust his fedora, and a face made of metal and plastic stared out from underneath. Unblinking yellow eyes bored into mine as I reeled back.

"You, you're one of them… You're a synth!" I raised my gun, ready to blast him into oblivion, when Ilya suddenly reached up to stop me.

"Nick?" She asked timidly as she approached, "Nick, is that really you?" My jaw could've hit the floor.

"Wait, you… know him? How is that even possible?" I asked as I kept my gun steady.

"Well, first of all kid, I wasn't always a synth. Used to be a man, just like you. Second, her father worked with me on a few cases as an expert witness. In exchange, I promised to look after young Miss Astor here and keep her out of trouble. Looks like I've got a lot to answer for." The man laughed, but I didn't think it was funny.

"And how exactly did you end up like… this?" I demanded.

"Now, _that_ is a long story," the synth said as he picked up the brandy from the table, "One better told around a warm fire and a cold drink, wouldn't you say?"

This couldn't be happening… I mean what were the odds? That right after we tangle with the Institute and the Director himself, the one synth out there that just so happens to know Ilya shows up? This smelled to high heaven and I wasn't having any of it.

"Not a chance," I said with a snarl, "Ilya, get behind me. We're getting out of here."

"What? No! Jacob, I knew Detective Valentine from before the War, he would never hurt me. Please, let's hear him out at the very least."

"Ilya, he's a _synth_!" I yelled as my eyes darted around the room, just waiting for more to appear any second. "Whoever this Valentine was is long gone, just like McDonough, just like everybody else. He's just another empty Institute shell… Now, back away from him so I can put this thing down once and for all."

"What, no!" She screamed loudly as she stood in between us, "Absolutely not, I won't allow it!"

"Get out of the way, Ilya," I barked, "Right now."

"Whoa, hold on there kiddo," Valentine said as he stepped around the girl, "I haven't been with the Institute for a long time. Got out of there as soon as I could, in fact. Any sane synth would… Besides, just look at me, I'm old hardware see? All used up. They don't want me any more than I want them."

"But you _were_ with the Institute once, and as far as I know they could take you over at any moment. Thanks, but no thanks. _Synth_." I added with disdain.

"Listen here," he said, quickly losing patience himself, "I've seen a lot of things in the Wasteland, gone up against synths and fought them myself. Hell, I lose more of my cases to them than anyone else, so if the Institute were to take me back, then they would have done it by now."

I stared the machine down as I weighed his words. The truth was I _had_ heard about him, and if any of it was true, then he was a damn good detective and had managed to build himself a strong reputation in a city that feared and hated synths. I lowered my gun and looked him straight in those hideous eyes.

"So what _are_ you doing here, then?"

"Like I said, that's a long story… About two hundred years long, speaking of, how about that drink?" And without another word, he took a seat in one of the velvet armchairs strewn about the room. I eyed the synth carefully, not quite sure what angle he was playing at, but it was clear we weren't about to get ambushed at the very least.

"Can a synth even drink?" I asked as I found a chair for myself, never once taking my eyes off the machine.

"Old habits die hard, I guess… Besides, everybody enjoys a good drink," he replied as he took a swig, the amber liquid running down his mechanical inner workings. "So, as I said, I knew Dr. Astor from working with him in the past, never expected to get that call, that's for sure. Dr. Astor was never on our list of potential victims, all the previous ones had been CEOs of major corporations. Dr. Astor was the one scientist among them."

"Wait a minute, you mean you were here? Before the bombs dropped?" I asked in disbelief.

"That's right, kid. It was my last case, and it wasn't the kind you'd soon forget. I was a detective on the force at the time, had come up from Chicago to take down the local mob boss. Almost had him too, but then the killings started. I was pulled from the case and the whole operation was shut down, all to catch this one guy."

"Now I had a doctor's appointment that morning, but that don't stop the job, and when I'd heard who'd been hit, well I dropped everything and came as fast as I could. I knew what this madman was capable of and I had promised to take care of Miss Astor should anything happen, but she was nowhere to be found. No signs of a break-in, no signs of a struggle. She was just gone without a trace. I feared the worst of course, and would've gone after her myself, but my superior ordered me off the case when he realized I had a connection to her old man. I was sent off for an immediate evaluation, some kind of newfangled therapy meant to help with mental trauma. Just my luck that I walked into the building right before the bombs hit. Care to take a guess where I went?"

"The Institute," Ilya and I said in unison.

"The one and only," he continued.

"The next thing I remember is waking up in the middle of nowhere, covered in trash and looking like… this. It was quite a shock, let me tell you. I wandered the Wasteland for awhile until I finally got my bearings, and as soon as I could, I came back here, to the crime scene. I had hoped for some kind of clue or indication of what had happened to Ilya, but the trail was long cold. I eventually settled down in Diamond City after gaining the people's trust, but I never forgot about Miss Astor."

"It wasn't until yesterday that I realized you might be alive," he said as he turned to Ilya. "The commotion in Diamond City, it was you. Once I heard the description, I knew it had to be you. You always knew how to get into trouble everywhere you went. After that, I made for this house as fast as I could, knowing this would be the first place you'd go. I only just stepped out to pick up this," the synth said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a file folder, a police report by the looks of it.

"This was everything we had on your father's murder before the bombs went off. I may not have been able to protect you, but I thought this might give you some kind of closure at the very least."

We looked at each other, then at the file, then at the synth called Valentine. Neither of us knew what to say, was this for real or just some kind of ploy? I made the first move and grabbed the file in between us.

"You don't have to look… if you don't want to," he added as we both leaned in closer over the aging photographs, but nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to see.

At first glance, I wasn't even sure what I was looking at... Whatever was left of poor Dr. Astor was completely unrecognizable. The man hadn't just been killed by a bullet or a blade… No. Somehow, the killer had managed to orchestrate a far, far worse fate for him than anything I could have ever imagined.

Like an unholy horror from beyond this plane, the man had been twisted into the most gruesome of ghouls. Radiation burns had scarred him beyond all recognition, the look of terror and agony on his face the thing of nightmares. Not only that, but fresh open wounds and large pus-filled growths covered his entire being, until he had bloated to almost double his size. As if it could get any worse, the man had suffered unspeakable mutations. Hideous deformed limbs twisted and tore through his raw flesh, as if hell itself was trying to claw its way into our world through the man's miserable and dying body.

A dark shiver raced down my spine as an ominous feeling settled in around me. There was something sick and disturbing about what I was looking at, as though this had all been for some kind of sick ritual sacrifice.

"So, do you see it yet? Do you see what's wrong with this picture?" Valentine asked as I looked at him incredulously.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?! A hell of a lot's wrong that's what! This is horrifying, why would you show us something like this?!"

"I would have thought a man like you would have paid closer attention, Jacob…" The synth chided with a laugh, but I only glared. "Look closer and think, what's missing?" he urged.

"I don't care much for games, synth… Why don't you just come out with it and say what you're trying to say?" I snarled with disdain, finger on the trigger

"Well look around why don't you?" Valentine said with a smile, "You don't hear a Geiger counter ticking, now do you? We didn't either when we first came in. The whole thing didn't make sense. That these men weren't just murdered, they were mutated… without a trace of radiation."

"Wait, what?" I said as I recoiled in disbelief, "How is that even possible? No, no you must be mistaken. These pictures, they were taken after the bombs, they have to have been!"

"Check the timestamp, kid."

I turned over the photograph and saw in faded ink: OCT 23 2077 7:42 AM

"Seven forty-two…" I repeated, "but everyone knows that the bombs didn't drop until at least nine o'clock on the east coast."

"Who could do such a thing?" Ilya said as she trembled in her seat.

"The question may not be who, but what," the detective said as he picked up another photograph and handed it to me.

It must have been the murder weapon, a dark blade made of a twisted and deformed metal, just as disturbed as its final victim. Jagged and cruel, it seemed to grin in the light of the flashbulb, Dr. Astor's blood still fresh in its rusty maw.

"Wicked, isn't it?" He continued with a dark grimace, "Kremvh's Tooth they called it, stolen mere days before the first murder. Belonged to a museum that specialized in artifacts of the occult. We'd always known these murders had some ritualistic aspects to them, but until this blade, we had no idea how serious these people were."

"Wait a minute, what are you saying?" I asked, barely able to believe what I was about to suggest. "That this monster, this killer, was somehow mutating people into ungodly abominations using… what? Black magic?"

"Now I ain't saying that, kid. I'm just telling you the facts. We had no idea what was going on with these murders. All I know is that this blade was our first real clue, and just our luck, it's long gone from the police lockup. Stolen by some raider or scavenger by now, I'm sure."

"In fact," he said as he turned to Ilya once more, "I was hoping _you_ could help shed some light on this whole situation. Did your father have any enemies I should know about? Was there anything he was working on that would make him a target? Did he leave you with anything, anything at all, that could explain this?"

"Oh! Well… I uh…" Ilya said taken aback, but with one look from me she clammed up tight. "Nothing that I know of," she said quickly, a look of guilt written all over her face.

"Well, that's that," I said suddenly as I stood up. "I think you can take your leave now, Mr. Valentine…"

"What? What did I do?" The synth said defensively as I snorted.

"Oh don't play dumb with me. It was a nice performance and all, but you're not convincing anybody here."

"Jacob… please," Ilya begged.

"You got something to say to me, kid?" Valentine replied.

"Yeah, I got something to say… I don't trust you. I don't trust this whole deal. I think you're from the Institute here to lower our defenses and the only thing keeping me from shooting you right now just so happens to be sitting next to me. I think you should go. Now."

We stood in tense silence, each sizing the other up. The air between us electrified as we both itched for our weapons.

Suddenly, a crash clamored outside. We all ran to the window and saw a gang of ghouls, half a dozen at least, racing through the wreckage and towards the door. Apparently, our voices had carried farther than I realized in this old building. Valentine turned to me, a scowl firmly on his face.

"Listen kid, this ain't what you think, I promise. I'd be happy to explain everything, but it looks like we've got some company. Stay here. Talk it out. I'll take care of the pest problem," he said as he loaded his gun and walked out of the room, leaving us alone and bewildered.

As soon as he was gone, I reeled around on Ilya.

"We need to get out of here," I said, "And quick. I don't like this one bit."

"Jacob, stop it! You're just overreacting… He's been nothing but helpful, and I don't see why we can't tell him what we know. We have a mystery on our hands and he is a detective, after all. He could help us!"

"Ilya, _you_ _can't trust a synth._ It doesn't matter who they used to be, they're all tools of the Institute now. Every. Single. One." I said as I peered out the window, the synth disposing of the shambling beasts with record speed.

"We don't have much time," I said, "Do you really think your father left something for you here? Because if so, we need to find it. Now."

I could see she wanted to argue, but said nothing more. We both began scouring the study for something, anything, that could help us on our way, but the place had been cleaned out centuries before, leaving nothing behind but a dead man's bones and his books.

As time dragged on, I looked through the window once again, only to find Valentine standing guard just outside. _Keeping things out, or keeping us in?_ I thought to myself. As I turned back to Ilya, I found her staring at a painting of a lighthouse on the wall.

It was a haunting depiction. A strong white tower stood against a vast, tumultuous sea. The waters crashed against the rocks with wild abandon, desperately trying to erode the foundation at its roots. Amid the writhing waves was a small boat, barely clinging to life out in the chaos. The light of the tower pierced the darkness, guiding the boat safely into the harbor.

"My mother made this painting," she said quietly. "Before I was born. It was one of my father's favorites. Whenever he felt lost or confused, he would come up here to his study and just stare at it for hours. I really do miss them both…"

"Ilya, I know this is hard, but you have to think!" I pleaded as I looked through the drawers for the thousandth time, "Where would your father hide a message in here?" But Ilya seemed far away, lost in the fine brushwork of her dead mother's painting.

I rolled my eyes, beginning to think there wasn't anything here at all and this had all just been one big waste of time, when suddenly, Ilya perked up.

"Follow the light," she whispered to herself as she inspected the painting even closer. I came over to see for myself, but there was nothing special I could see about it.

"Follow the light!" She cried once again, this time even louder.

Before I knew it, she had grabbed the knife from my belt and had begun carving away at the canvas of her beloved mother's painting.

"What are you doing?" I said, utterly confused at her sudden outburst, but she ignored me as she always did. I watched on as she carefully pulled back the canvas, inch by inch in the hopes of not ripping the precious heirloom, until at last, I saw a glint of gold drop to the floor. Ilya smiled wide as she picked it up and held it up to the light.

A golden key.

I could hardly believe it as she handed it to me. It was a tiny thing really, but incredibly intricate in its design. Immediately, I noticed the strange emblem at the top, that of an eye inside of an atom. Surrounding the symbol and engraved in a fine calligraphy, was a mysterious phrase.

 _"Omnium Lux Civium…"_ I read aloud, "What do you think that means?"

"Well, it's Latin", Ilya offered helpfully, "It means "The Light of all People", but that's not the only thing." She said as she turned over the key, revealing another engraving along its side. Two small figures glinted in the light, that of an M and an 8.

"M8? What's that supposed to be, some kind of code?"

"I can't be sure…" she replied curiously, "But this motto, I know I've seen it before!"

"Really? Where?"

"On the seal of the Boston Public Library, just downtown," she said breathlessly, the excitement plain on her face. "That's not far from here!"

"Right then, guess that settles it," I said as I slipped the key into my pocket. "Is there a back way out of this place?"

"Well, yes… But what about Detective Valentine?"

"What about him? Like I said, he's a synth and you can't trust a synth. Now C'mon, let's go."

She looked back mournfully at the window, but didn't argue as we quickly made our way down the stairs and out the back door.


	14. Ch 13: A Light in the Darkness

Merry Christmas everyone!

Like I said, it might be awhile before I shore up Ch. 14, it's another big one, but the plot's really starting to get moving now! Might be a couple weeks after this, but hey, I'm 10,000 words farther than where I was so, counting it for the win. ;P

Enjoy!

 **Chapter 13: A Light in the Darkness**

It wasn't long before we were over the bridge and back into Boston, but this time I had made sure Ilya knew to keep close and keep quiet. The Back Bay District was a known haven for raiders and Super Mutants alike, neither of which I had much of an answer for should we get caught. It was easy enough I supposed, Ilya was still moping over Valentine and hadn't spoken a word since we'd left, but none of that mattered now. A synth's a synth and I certainly wasn't about to risk my neck for the likes of _him_.

Even so, I looked back at Ilya, only to find her scowling off in the distance, refusing to so much as look me in the eye.

I sighed to myself. She could be such a child sometimes.

"Look, I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but we did the right thing ditching the synth. The last thing we need is an Institute spy sniffing around while we're off looking for this Conduit thing. Trust me, you can thank me later."

"Oh, can I? Can I really?" She snapped back with a glare, "Don't patronize me, Mr. Burns. You know perfectly well that I didn't want to leave him behind, but _you_ insisted and _you're_ the boss, so here I am. I mean, honestly… I finally meet someone from my past, someone that might actually be able to help us, and you won't even hear him out. And why? Just because he's taken on a few mechanical parts?"

"It's not as simple as that and you know it," I snapped back, "With the flip of a switch that "friend" of yours becomes the deadliest killing machine in all the Commonwealth. Besides, what's the likelihood that wasn't a trap, anyway? Out of all the personalities he could have had, he just so happens to be an old friend and the foremost expert on your father's murder? C'mon kid, wake the hell up."

"But that's just it! Don't you think the Institute would have put a little more effort into disguising a spy?" She said as she trotted along next to me, "Consider the fact that he's been living in Diamond City long before this Director ever took over, and that he managed to earn a strong reputation with the townspeople there. He might have been telling the truth the whole time, and for all we know, he could have been the best chance we had of finding the vault. At the very least, he could have been one of those Railroad synths I keep hearing about…"

"Seriously, you can't really think… Wait, what?" I stopped for a moment, not quite sure if I had heard correctly. "Did you say the Railroad? How do you know about the Railroad?"

"I heard some of the townspeople talking about it in the marketplace just before I got arrested. It's some sort of secret underground network that smuggles synths out of the Institute, right? They think of them as people, being treated as slaves. They liberate them and give them new identities out in the Wasteland. He could be one of them!"

"Who the hell have you been talking to?!" I said as I reeled around on her, hardly able to believe she overheard this in Diamond City of all places. The Railroad was nothing but a bunch of whacked-out nut jobs and synth-crazed terrorists whose blind altruism was going to get us all killed.

"Whoever told you that was not your friend Ilya, the Railroad is as dangerous as it gets, what's left of them are anyway. They may think the synths are people, but they're dead wrong. How human can you be if all your memories, all that makes you, _you_ , can be replaced with a simple program?"

"You aren't being fair! The least you could have done was given the man a chance!"

"That's enough!" I snapped, thoroughly fed up with this nonsense, "I'm not taking any risks and that's final! I won't hear another word about it!" And with that I stomped ahead, leaving Ilya to return to her cold and stony silence.

Several hours later, we finally entered into the plaza of old Copley Square and the sound of gunfire and screaming seemed to fade away into the distance, our footsteps echoing off the ancient stone of crumbling ruins as the surrounding steel skyscrapers ached and groaned in the wind.

The library stood before us like a great mausoleum. Though the swooping arches and heavy columns gave the place the distinct air of a Roman palace, decorated with the fine sculpt-work of the great Masonic masters, the dark stains left by the radioactive ash gave off a sense of deep foreboding. As we walked up to the gated entrance, we could barely make out the words decorating the seal just above the doors.

 _Omnium Lux Civium_

"This must be the place," I said as I turned to Ilya, "But there's got to be an easier way in, anything you can think of?" I said as I eyed the massive bronze doors sitting just beyond the gate. She shook her head.

"Afraid not," she replied with a shrug.

With little choice, we began a sweep around the library's perimeter, searching for any sort of crack in the building's defenses, but it seemed the automated security system had done its job in shutting the place down after the bombs had dropped. It was with sheer luck that we managed to find a broken window whose grating had come loose over the years. I wrenched it from the wall and gave Ilya a boost inside before quickly following in after her.

I landed with a thud into a pile of plaster and debris, kicking up a heavy cloud of dust that cast a dark haze about the room. We were in an annex, perhaps once used to house special exhibitions of the library's voluminous collections, but now, the entire room lay dead and quiet, the floor above having caved-in long ago. Shelves upon shelves of ruined books littered the ground as we maneuvered through the wreckage, the occasional glimpse of bone glinting in the heady light of Ilya's Pip-boy.

At last, we reached the far side of the room, only to find a wall of rubble standing in our way. This was definitely where we wanted to go, but it looked as if the cave-in had blocked the hall leading out. I felt my way around the pile until I found a spot loose enough to start digging.

It seemed like ages as we shifted through all that rock and debris, but at last, our hard work was rewarded when we finally managed to break through. As we moved into the entrance hall, I was taken aback by the most breathtaking sight.

A shaft of twilight streamed in from the high windows above, casting the room in a deep orange glow that seemed to set the ancient hall on fire. Vaulted ceilings rose high above us, inscribed with the names of the greatest masters of the scientific age, shining like stars in the ethereal light.

As we walked further into the foyer, we found ourselves at the base of a grand sweeping staircase where twin marble lions lazed atop a pair of pedestals, looking down upon us with a sense of almost-curiosity beneath their stony gaze. We must have been the first living souls to step foot in these ruins in over a century. Even the dust seemed suspended in time as an eerie silence reverberated around us, echoing with the voices of the long forgotten past.

"It's beautiful…" I said to myself.

"It is, isn't it?" She replied with a quiet smile, "It was called the "Palace of the People" back when it was first opened. See these murals here? They represent all the different disciplines found inside the library. History, philosophy, physics, and this one here… It shows the nine muses of Greek mythology praising Enlightenment as he is risen by Contemplation and Study. My father used to bring me here all the time when I was a child, I can't believe how well it's been preserved after all these years…"

Ilya trailed off as I looked around the arcaded gallery, covered in ages of dust and grime. It was less of a palace than it was a temple, a temple to the very hubris of man. It made sense for the Order to have some kind of presence here, but I couldn't help but scowl as Ilya continued on, seemingly oblivious to the implications.

"Oh! And that motto outside?" Ilya said without a care, "The Light of All People… It's talking about knowledge, and how it belongs to every single one of us. It is the light of all humanity, that guides us out of the darkness and leads us into the future-"

"And you think that wise, do you?" I said as I raised my brow.

"What?" She said, almost startled by the question.

"Do you think that is wise?" I said again as I gestured around me, "Putting all your faith into technology and science… Worshipping knowledge for knowledge's sake… Isn't that what ended the world in the first place?"

"No, it's not like that at all!" She said, a look of genuine surprise on her face, "My father always told me it was more like the ancient myth of Prometheus. How he sacrificed himself to bring the heavenly fire to earth, that spark of knowledge that brought mankind out of the dark ages. It's a gift, Mr. Burns, bought with the sacrifice of our ancestors."

I scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Well, I've got another little fairy tale for you. It's called Pandora's Box, and it's about a girl that just had to know the answer to everything. A girl whose curiosity and quest for "knowledge" brought about the end of the world, because that's what happens when you mess with things men weren't meant to know. That's what the endless pursuit of "knowledge" gets you."

"You are just so… infuriating! First of all, that's not how the myth goes, and second, technology and science aren't what's dangerous, it's how you use them!"

"Well, they used it alright!" I yelled out, a little louder than I'd meant to, "Don't you get it? It always gets out of hand, people just can't control themselves. Sometimes they can't even control their own creations!" But as soon as the words had left my mouth, I knew what a terrible mistake I'd made. A cold, mechanical voice rang out from somewhere up above, echoing around us as the sound of heavy metallic footsteps began to clang closer and closer.

"WARNING; Intruders detected in the vicinity of the main hall. Defensive routines activated…"

We both looked up just as the clunky frame of a Pre-War robot came into view, its positronic brain whirring madly beneath a plane of glass. Our presence had sent the machine's ancient sensors into overdrive as it scoured the area from its high position upon the balcony.

I cursed under my breath.

Protectrons. Of course there were Protectrons… How else does a treasure like this go untouched for so many years? All the Pre-War companies had used them, but they were just another example of technology run amok. Though they may have been the most basic of automatons, they had always been unreliable, even before the war. Now after two hundred years of nonstop functioning, they could be downright unpredictable.

"ATTENTION all law-abiding citizens, the library is now closed due to an emergency. Please find the nearest exit or be eradicated to the fullest extent of the law." Its monotone voice seemed to jerk and hitch at the strangest of times, the occasional spark flying from its mechanical head.

Instinctively, I ducked behind one of the marble statues, dragging Ilya down with me as she struggled.

"Hey!" She hollered as she wrenched her hand from mine.

"Be quiet! Are you trying to get us both killed?"

"Now really, a Protectron? Is that what's got you all upset? Honestly, I'm starting to think you're just messing with me…"

"I said get down!" I hissed as I readied my weapon once again.

"Oh, this is absolutely ridiculous… Watch and learn, Mr. Burns." And without another word, she marched right towards the lumbering tank of steel and sparking servos.

"Ilya!" I called after her. What did she think she was doing!? Dammit, I knew this girl was going to be the end of me…

I watched on helplessly as she approached the machine, a metric ton of gears and steel. What it lacked in refinement and mobility, it made up for in sheer strength and firepower.

"HALT; Unauthorized access detected. Present identification or face imminent destruction."

"Ilya Jane Astor, identification number 07734."

"Bzzzrt- Processing information…"

"Welcome ILYA ASTOR to the Boston Public Library. The library is now closed due to emergency protocols. Kindly return to the nearest exit or be vaporized under Federal Code M-108b."

"Now now, no need to be so rude my dear robot," Ilya chided as she pulled out the cable on her Pip-Boy. She dodged the Protectron's slow grasp and ducked around its back, plugging her computer into a port hidden beneath a panel. Before I knew it, the robot had powered down, completely at Ilya's mercy.

"How… did you do that?" I asked.

"I told you!" She said as she typed in a string of codes, bypassing the emergency protocols and resetting the personality systems.

"It's just a matter of knowing what you're doing," she said with a smile as the machine booted up once again.

"WELCOME to the Boston Public Library! I am your helpful guide to the world of knowledge. Please input your request."

I could hardly believe it as the robot stood before us, completely harmless and utterly obedient. Not only had she subdued the Protectron, but she had also managed to turn on the backup generator. A deep rumble shook the room as the power kicked on from somewhere deep below, and one by one, ancient lights flickered on around us.

Even so, I wasn't convinced.

"But what about the turrets hiding in the alcoves? Or any other security for that matter! There could be an assaultron just hiding around the corner and you wouldn't even know it!"

"Nope, not a problem. I've already hacked into the mainframe and reset the protocols to regular working hours. Ask him anything you want and he'll tell you the answer, I guarantee it!" She said with a pearly smile.

"Hmm, I still don't like it…" I grumbled as I looked the machine up and down. I certainly didn't trust the tin can any farther than I could throw it, but I supposed everything did seem to be in working order.

"Oh don't be silly, here let's give this a try… _Ahem_ , Protectron? What is the Order of the Algorithm?"

"Processing request…" The mechanized voice chimed as his processors kicked into action, a whir of activity and computation humming through the air.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Information not found, please try again later," he said after several minutes of thinking. I scoffed.

"Hmm, I suppose that _was_ a bit of a stretch… I mean, what kind of secret society would it be if you could just look it up at the library?" She conceded as she began to pace up and down the room.

"Okay, how about this… Protectron? What is the significance of "M8"? What does that mean?"

The humming filled the air once more.

"Clarification required," the robot chimed again, "Do you mean the M8 Armored Gun System first implemented in the U.S. Army in 2045, or the M8 class planets often explored in the popular children's program _The Adventures of Captain Cosmos and Jangles the Moon Monkey?_ "

"Well, that was helpful," I snarked. "I think we should ask it about the Moon Monkey, how about you?"

"We're just not asking it the right questions, that's all!" Ilya insisted, "Perhaps something a little more tangible?" She said as she came over and grabbed the key out of my pocket.

"How about this, do you recognize this?" She asked as she placed the key in front of the machine's face. A beam of light emitted from one of the sensors beneath the glass, scanning the image before sending the robot into another whir of computations.

"The Eye in the Atom," the robot replied after some time, "A high society symbol that rose to prominence in the early 2020's for gentlemen's clubs and science consortiums around the world, though its origins may date much earlier."

"Oh, for crying out loud," I said, quickly becoming exasperated with the whole ordeal, "This thing is as useless as it is dangerous. We're never going to find anything this way!"

"Hmph, well he can still help us haul books back and forth at the very least," she said with a pout, "Protectron, bring me everything you have on secret societies, symbols, and code-breaking."

And with that, the robot was off to search amongst the wreckage. Ilya and I, on the other hand, worked on finding a way into the main reading gallery. A long, vast hall lined with tall arching windows that left us exposed to the outside world, we decided instead to find a nice secluded spot in an alcove near the far end. The Protectron began bringing in stack after stack of books until slowly, we were surrounded by a treasure trove of lost knowledge.

The table creaked under the massive weight as Ilya buried herself into book after book, all but hidden among the towering stacks. I tried to help for as long as I could, but after finding half the volumes completely unreadable, I quickly gave up and took to patrolling the perimeter while she worked in a feverish silence.

The hours seemed to slip by until the darkness outside had become complete, leaving me feeling more anxious and exposed than ever. It wasn't wise to have an entire building lit up in the dead of night, in fact, it was the kind of thing that put a bullseye squarely on your back. I made my way back over to Ilya, where I found her pouring over a few faded newspapers in search of some sort of clue as to what this all meant. Halfway between an article on the increasing tensions over the last known oil reserve and a report on the New Plague sweeping across the mountains of Colorado, Ilya looked up, heavy bags forming beneath her tired eyes.

"Hey, kiddo? It's probably time to wrap it up for the night," I said as I laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, "C'mon, we'll find a place to hole up for now and get some rest. We can get a fresh start in the morning."

"No! Please, Mr. Burns, I'm so close, I can feel it! It's like, I'm missing something… Something right in front of me, but I just can't see it. I mean, it's too short to be a coded message, it's not some kind of location reference… I just can't find anything that makes sense of "M8"!

"We could probably search this place up and down until the end of time, and we still might never know the answer," I said as I rubbed my eyes, starting to feel the edge of the day myself. "Most of these books are destroyed beyond repair, even so, maybe we're just looking at this from the wrong angle? Like I said, try to get some sleep. I'm sure it'll come to you."

"Oh, I suppose you're right…" She said with a great yawn, "After all, there's no use in bashing my head against a wall. Let me just gather my things and… whoops!" She fumbled with the key as she almost tripped over a pile of books. I heard her curse under her breath as the tiny thing clattered to the floor, but as she bent over to pick it up, she stopped and stared.

"What is it?" I asked, but I could already see those wheels turning in her head. I could just barely hear the whisper beneath her breath before that smile spread wide once again.

"The Divergence Sequence…" She said.

"The what?"

"The Divergence Sequence!" She said again, "You were right Jacob, we _have_ been looking at this all wrong! The key doesn't say "M8" at all, look!" She held up the key so that the 8 sat on top of the sideways M, and I wrinkled my brow.

"I don't get it," I said with a shrug.

"They're mathematical symbols, Mr. Burns, that of infinity and the Greek letter sigma. It's a shorthand for the Infinity Sum, also known as the Divergence Sequence. It just goes on forever and ever, with an infinite number of answers depending on how you go about solving the problem. Honestly, I can't believe I didn't see it before, it was one of my father's favorites!"

"You know, it's funny," she added with a sad smile, "He would always tease me about which was the "correct" answer… by telling me it just depended on which reality you chose to wake up in that day." She laughed to herself, "Of course, he'd always known it was a bunch of silly sci-fi nonsense, but he truly loved the idea, that every possibility existed within the vast macrocosm. If certain calculations were correct, then the number of realities could be infinite, and what my father told me would be true. Reality really is made by the choices you make…"

"What on earth are you going on about?" I said, starting to wonder if the girl was more sleep deprived than I'd thought. "I've never heard of any of that crap, and besides, what does any of this have to do with us?"

"Well, think about it! My father would use this to describe hidden worlds connected to our own. If my theory is correct, then this is telling us exactly where to find the next clue! Protectron, please take us to the mathematics section, specifically anything regarding the Divergence Sequence."

" _Fine,_ " I groaned as the rust-bucket began to move away from us, "If you insist, but this better be quick, alright? I'm sick and tired of feeling exposed out here…"

It seemed to take forever as we followed the slow, heaving steps of the Protectron, but at last, we'd made it through the vast library and into a dark room. It was clear by the blown out windows and heavy scorch marks that the blast had hit this wing the hardest, leaving almost all of the books here charred to ash. There was a strong stench of mold and decay as we came up to a crumbling bookcase, where the Protectron pointed to a book so old and brittle there was no telling what it once was called.

"Well, I guess that's it then," I said with a sigh, "Can we get moving now?"

"No, no, that can't be the end! There's got to be something else… I mean, if we just handle it very carefully, maybe there'll be something inside? Something that didn't burn? Here, just help me get this thing out."

"Ilya, there's no chance… That book is _completely_ destroyed. It'll fall apart the second you touch it!" I replied, but as usual, she wasn't listening. Slowly, carefully, she eased it from its place off the shelf, but every movement sent more and more slivers of charred pages flittering to the floor. As soon as she had the book in hand, it disintegrated before our eyes into a pile of dust and dead dreams.

"Well, don't I didn't warn you. C'mon, let's get going," I ordered as I turned to leave, but still she insisted.

"Jacob… you should see this…"

"Oh, no. I've had enough," I snapped back without so much as a second look, "I'm not hearing another word about it, at least not for today. Get your things, we're leaving. Now."

"But, if you'd only take a moment…"

"I said _no._ Seriously, this has gone on for long enough. How many times do I have to tell you 'no' before you get it through your thick skull?"

"Jacob!" She hollered at the top of her lungs.

"Oh for crying out loud, WHAT?!" I yelled, finally reaching my limit, "What is it? What is so god damn important?!"

"Would you just… look!" She yelled back at me as she pointed to where the book had been only moments before, and that's when I saw it.

There, embedded into the wall just beyond the bookcase, was a golden eye.

I grabbed Ilya's Pip-boy and brought it closer as I wiped away the years of soot and grime, and just like the key, the eye was surrounded by the electron rings of an atom. A small keyhole sat at its center, winking at us from beneath the pale light.

"Well, I'll be damned… You actually did it," I said, barely able to contain my amazement. I clearly hadn't been giving the girl enough credit this whole time.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I said, "Open it!"

Ilya certainly didn't need to be told twice. She whipped out the key and placed it into the lock with one fell swoop. The ancient tumbler turned with a loud thunk, followed by a fast flurry as a dozen more disengaged. Slowly, the bookcase opened with an eerie creak that echoed throughout the cavernous room, a cloud of dust billowing out around us.

Without a second thought, I grabbed the nearest chair and tore off one of its legs, quickly wrapping the end with a spare bit of cloth I always kept around, just in case. I lit the material and watched it blaze to life. As I held out the torch, we saw a set of mysterious stone stairs that seemed to stretch on forever before us. Ilya and I turned to one another, sharing a look of silent agreement before descending down those shallow steps and into the dark unknown.


	15. Ch 14: The Writing on the Wall

Sorry for the wait, I know I say that a lot, but I really am always working away at it. Just know that this is a project that WILL be completed and WILL have a satisfying ending. Count on it.

Anyway, the reason for my absence this time is a good one. The chapter I was working on ended up clocking in at 6,400 words! I decided it was better to cut the chapter in half, so after I correct for the abrupt cut, the next one will be ready to go! Chapter 16 is still partially finished as well, and I've actually been REALLY excited about that one.

Next one should be done in a week or two!

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 **Chapter 14: The Writing on the Wall**

We crept down the dark, dank stairwell in silence, spiraling deep into the earth as I held out the torch in front of me. Long black shadows stretched before us, dark shapes shifting along the walls like a formless phantom that gripped my imagination and conjured the darkest of visions into the back of my mind, sending my already finely tuned senses over the edge. I held my gun close to my chest, ready at a moment's notice, while Ilya had her nose buried in the Pip-Boy, no doubt keeping an eye out for even the slightest hint of danger as we moved deeper into the dark. After all, there was no telling what we might find down here, especially with all the damage done to the building over the years. All it would take was one poorly placed cave-in and it could open us up to any number of monstrosities.

Even so, as I gazed upon the Victorian sconces adorning the walls, I couldn't help but wonder.

"Look at this place, it's ancient… How long do you think it's been hiding down here?" I asked as I swept another curtain of cobwebs to the side.

"It must have been built into the very foundation," Ilya replied, "But that would mean it's been around since 1895 and that's practically four hundred years."

"Four hundred years?" I said with a whistle, "That's a long time to keep something like this a secret… Looks like this "Eye in the Atom" thing has been around a lot longer than our robot friend was letting on, and somehow, I don't get the sense we're on our way to a science consortium or gentlemen's club…"

"Neither do I," Ilya replied with a cold shiver, "I do hope my father knows what he's doing, this place is starting to give me the creeps," she added as we passed by another ominous eye carved into the wall, looking down at us with a glare as if it knew we were trespassing on this sacred ground.

We continued along in silence until, at last, the spiraling corridor came to an end and opened up into a massive underground chamber. Through the dim light, we were just barely able to make out the mechanical equipment strewn about the room. A chemistry set crowded the center, a beautiful array of crystal flasks and vials brimming with strange and mysterious liquids that intrigued me all their own, while a large set of databases lined the walls and towered above us from all sides, their dials dark and processors quiet. At last, we managed to find the main terminal, but quickly found it out of power. Ilya and I split up as we searched around in the dark, but as I crept around the edges of the room, I caught sight of something on the wall.

"Ilya, over here," I called out, and without a word, she raced over as quick as she could. I held up the torch high, and heard her let out an audible gasp.

"It's some kind of writing, but I can't quite make it out… Can't you reach any higher?"

"No, but there's got to be some kind of generator around here somewhere, right?" I replied, and we got back to work. It wasn't long before I finally caught sight of the great machine, tucked away far in the back corner and covered in cobwebs. With the flip of a switch, a spark of electricity shot up a pair of towering Tesla coils, igniting the engine and rumbling to life.

One by one, the lights flickered on around us, and suddenly we found ourselves standing in a magnificent laboratory, a monument to the beauty and craftsmanship of the Victorian age. The floor was made of a polished blue marble, inlaid with golden stars to look like the night sky. The ceiling stretched high above us, like a vast cathedral it seemed to go on forever and ever, but at its center hung a massive working model of the solar system that began to spin above our heads, ancient gears grinding out the celestial patterns of the planets and their moons. Finally, another ominous eye stared at us from high upon the wall, as always, surrounded by the rings of an atom.

And yet, despite all this beauty and wonder, Ilya and I saw none of it.

All we could see were the hundreds upon hundreds of equations written all over the room, the incoherent ramblings of a man gone mad. Half of it didn't even make any sense. Mathematical symbols I'd never seen before shone upon the walls, going on forever and ever in a jumble of crazed computations and endless equations, but even more unsettling were the scrawled messages scattered amid the madness, as if the author was trying to retain what little sanity he had left in the few repeated phrases. Words like "It's all my fault" and "If only I could have saved her" glistened in the light, and it was clear something terrible was tormenting this man's soul, but it was another phrase that caught my eye. Four simple words that sent a dark shiver down my spine.

 _The eyes are watching._

I looked up again at the carving on the wall, wondering if the Order could really be watching us right now…

"So," I said after a long, tense silence, "Is this the Divergence sequence you were talking about? How do we go about solving it so we can get this Conduit thing and get the hell out of here?"

"I honestly have no idea what this is," she replied in a faraway voice, her finger tracing the foreign symbols over and over again, "In fact," she added, "I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before…"

We stared in awe for what seemed like an eternity, lost in the madness without any idea where to begin. That was, until I heard a soft whisper next to me and turned to see Ilya pointing towards the doorway we had entered only moments before. There, just above the open arch, was a message written in red.

The truth is never quite as it seems,

But beneath His gaze, All can be seen.

Where all and nothing does collide,

There, you'll find it, in Atom's eye.

"Great, another riddle…" I said with a sigh, thankful I wasn't being chased by an army of synths this time, but it was just one vague hint after another.

"Jeez, your old man sure knew how to beat around a bush. Couldn't he just once be straightforward about these things? I swear, sometimes I can't tell if we've stumbled on a clue or if we're walking headlong into a trap."

"My father?" Ilya asked with a wrinkle between her brow ," Are you sure this was him? No, I don't believe it, he couldn't have. We both saw him in the recording that night and he certainly didn't look mad to me. Unwell, perhaps, but this? This is a bit much, even for him…"

I scoffed.

"This is your father's labratory, isn't it? We found the key in his office, didn't we? I mean, c'mon. Just name one other person who could have done it? Go on, name one."

"I don't know! But I do know that my father wasn't mad!" She blurted out suddenly and I reeled back.

"Okay, okay, calm down…" I conceded before we got into another shouting match, "We can figure this out. Maybe he left it, maybe he didn't, hell maybe the whole thing's just a smokescreen to throw the Order off the trail. Regardless of any of that, it's clear this is a clue meant for you, so let's just put our heads together and solve this thing, alright?"

Ilya took a deep breath before turning back to the wall with a huff, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Stubborn as always, I thought, but decided it was best to stay silent on the matter.

As we looked over the riddle, it was clear it was trying to tell us where to find this thing, but it didn't make a lick of sense. "Where all and nothing does collide" and "There we'll find it, in Atom's eye"? Where the hell is that? It sounded like a bunch of contradictory nonsense, but it's all we had. As I gazed back up towards the symbol on the wall, it didn't look like much of anything from here, but still, it was worth a shot.

With little else said, Ilya and I split up. I immediately raced toward the console where I carefully climbed on top of one of the main databases. Ilya, on the other hand, began to scour the room in search of any other clues, even so much as inspecting every mention of "eyes" in all the mad writing. I left her to it as I turned to the ominous symbol, suddenly a lot larger than it seemed below, but just as everything in this library, had been carved with artistic mastery and clinical precision. As I brushed away the dust and grime, I had hoped to find some kind of button or secret compartment, just like you'd find in an old copy of Tallahassee Jones or some other cheap comic book, but it was to no avail. Just as I'd thought, the thing was solid stone, and as for it's "gaze", it didn't seem to be looking anywhere except right back towards the entrance and the riddle itself.

As I climbed back down, I found Ilya now pouring over the computer screen.

"How's it going over here?" I asked, but as she heaved a great sigh, I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

"Poorly," she said with a shake of her head, "It looks like the entire system is fried, I can't even do a basic backlog retrieval! The whole thing's completely shot…" She said as she threw her hands up in a defeated slump back into the chair.

"Damn it, I was afraid of that," I replied, although I couldn't help but wonder if it was by mere accident of the bombs or if there had been an intentional wipe of the systems. Either way, we were getting nowhere fast.

"C'mon Ilya, think!" I urged the girl on, knowing this was just a world I didn't understand, "I mean, you were able to figure out the map, the painting, and the key. Whatever's going on here, it's clearly meant for you, so there's got to be something, anything in here that strikes you as odd or out of place. Whether you want to admit it or not, this was your father we're talking about, and nobody understood him better than you, so just think."

Ilya furrowed her brow in tired contemplation before speaking again.

"Well, It does seem a little odd for my father to be using the geocentric model…'

"The what?"

"The geocentric model," she said again as she pointed up at the rotating planets above our heads, "Look closely, that's the earth at the center, not the sun. That kind of model hasn't been used since the early fifteen hundreds. At first, I thought it was just a decorative choice, but now that I think about it, if this lab was really built as early as 1895, then there's no way they would have used anything other than the most cutting-edge technology and knowledge of the time. My father would have been the same way…"

"And this!" She said, almost exasperated as she jumped to her feet.

"The floor is made to look like a great star map, but look, where are the constellations? There's no Orion, no big dipper, no north star… Nothing! It's extremely detailed and intricate, and yet looks as if it were taken from a completely different galaxy! And what about this? This circle of black marble in the middle of the room? It looks like a black hole at the great center of the galaxy, but such a concept was only ever a theory in my time, so why even use it? It just doesn't make any sense… this library is a literal monument to knowledge and truth, so why wouldn't you portray everything as accurately as possible?" She trailed off again as she seemed to get lost within the peaks and arcs of a star system that perhaps never existed in the first place.

When suddenly, she stopped… and looked up.

Just as I had hoped, something had been triggered in her mind, but this time she needn't say a word. I followed her line of sight and instantly saw what had her standing speechless. From the angle we were looking at, it was clear as day. As we stared up from the center of the room, we could see the model for what it truly was… the ever moving iris of an eye.

Ilya whispered so quiet next to me, I almost didn't hear it.

"Where all and nothing does collide…"

"There, you'll find it, in Atom's eye." I finished with a smile, impressed once again by Dr. Astor's ingenious sense of perception. The ceiling above us had concealed a clever secret, a pattern within the tiles that could only be seen by standing in the exact center of the room. The black hole beneath us was the void of "nothing", the geocentric earth the "all" that we knew, and the eye in the ceiling that stared down menacingly at them both.

With renewed excitement, we got back to work. Frantically, we began to tear the room apart, desperately searching for some kind of ladder or step stool or anything that we could climb on top of really. Unfortunately, we had to settle for one of the large mahogany tables strewn about the room. We dragged the heavy wood into the center, but still we were short by several feet. With little other choice, we began stacking chairs one on top of another, until Ilya's hands were just grazing the bottom of the beautiful bronze orb. I lifted the girl up ever so carefully until, at last, she had managed to unhook it from its chain and we clamored down quickly to the safety of the floor.

We stared at the orb for what seemed like eternity, lost in the dizzyingly intricate designs engraved all over its face, when we spotted a small compartment hidden near the bottom. I watched as Ilya reached carefully inside and pulled out a small package wrapped in a magnificent red velvet.

As the wrapping fell away, however, I wrinkled my brow. I had expected to see some sort of electronic device, a conductor or transistor or something… But what I hadn't expected was the small brass spyglass now sitting in Ilya's hands. As she expanded the strange object to its fullest extent, a ray of light managed to glint off of a beautiful, yet incredibly simple inscription gleaming on the side.

 _Follow the Butterfly_

"What the hell is this?" I said, "Where's the Conduit?"

"I'm not sure…" Ilya replied as she inspected the spyglass even closer, "but this definitely isn't it. In fact, it looks like some kind of oculus device to me…"

I looked at her with bewilderment and she quickly explained.

"You know, a sort of special lens to reveal secret messages with? And look at this, the knobs and dials on the side here? They can be used to adjust how the device works, whether you are looking far away or up close. It's an ingenious design, but why would it need to do both?"

As soon as she said it, it hit me.

"That's it! Ilya, do you still have the map I gave you? The one with the message from your father?"

Her eyes widened with realization.

"Yes, yes I do!" And before I knew it, she had the map out of her pocket and spread out onto the floor, Dr. Astor's butterfly grinning up at us once again. I watched as she collapsed the device back down and began adjusting the dials as she peered through the lens. After a few seconds of searching, I heard a squeal of excitement as she pointed off towards the edge of the map.

"Look, over here!" she said as she passed the spyglass over to me.

As I looked for myself however, my face went pale. All the excitement was instantly drained from my body, replaced only by a cold, sinking feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. I glared at the little butterfly winking up at me from the page. Why? Why there? Of all the places her father could have picked, he had chosen the single most dangerous territory in all the Commonwealth.

Nuka World…

We were going to Nuka World.

It was once an amusement park, the biggest and most successful of its time. It was completely dedicated to the most recognizable of icons of the Old World, that of Nuka Cola. The soft drink had been so popular in those days it was practically sold on every street corner in America, so it was no wonder that the inventor had eventually spun off his brand into dozens of different products, everything from theme parks to children's programming. Of course, it's not what the place used to be that was so concerning to me…

"Ilya, we can't… there's just no way!" I replied, barely able to find the words to express how bad an idea this really was.

"Huh? What do you mean? All we have to do is get inside and use this spyglass to find the hidden symbol, and that will tell us where to go next! It'll be a piece of cake! Just like when my father used to take me there as a child…"

"We used to go every year," she continued softly, "There was a game we used to play, a contest… It was a lot like this actually. They'd give you a pair of glasses and you had to try and find all the hidden symbols strewn about the park. They would spell out a word and that was the combination to go meet the inventor of Nuka Cola himself, John-Caleb Bradberton! I never could find the last letter, but it didn't matter. My father having the influence he did, always got me in to see him anyway. Mr. Bradberton would give me all the Nuka Cola I could drink and tease me about what was going to happen in the next cartoon… He… he was one of the nicest men I'd ever met…" A gentle tear rolled down her cheek before she quickly came to her senses. She wiped it away on the back of her sleeve before looking back up at me, but it was all I could do not to yell at her.

"Ilya, you don't understand…" I said as a headache began to form behind my eyes, "It isn't like that anymore! Nuka World has been overrun by raiders and mutants for so long, it's nothing but a sick, twisted hellscape straight out of a madman's nightmare! The people there, Ilya… they just ain't right, seriously, they're fucked in the head."

"So, what, that's it then?" She said defiantly, "All this ends right here and we just give up? No, I don't accept that, Mr. Burns. There's got to be another way in without alerting the locals. I knew tons of kids growing up who jumped the gate without getting caught, and we're just two people, after all. How hard can it be?"

I shook my head.

"Are you kidding me? That place is an absolute fortress. I mean, the entire park is completely surrounded by high concrete walls the whole way round, and that's just for starters. Then there's all the different raider gangs inside, vying for power in a never-ending turf war, and we won't even get started on all the abominations roaming the wilder parts of the park. Disgusting, monstrous things… We'd never survive!"

"Dangerous or not, that's where the map says to go, so that's where I'm going!" Ilya said as she rolled up the map and the spyglass, a defiant glare in her eyes, "For once in your life, Jacob, have a little faith… I'm certain we can do this!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was one thing to solve a few riddles and hack a few computers, but this was _Nuka World_ we were talking about here. Every single tourist, traveler, and trader that had ever crossed its threshold had never been heard from again, or worse, had been found impaled and decorating a spike around the massive walled city. This wasn't just impossible, this was sheer suicide.

"Ilya, I'm telling you, it can't be done! They actually _want_ people to go there, they entice them in with the promise of wealth and security, but it's all a lie… Just so they can torture them in their sick and twisted games. Look, I don't even want to tell you this, but the truth is there is a way in, but it leads right into a death trap, " I trailed off, a dark shiver rushing down my spine, "And that's exactly what that place is… just one giant death trap, waiting for anyone poor, stupid, and desperate enough to take that risk."

"Poor, stupid, and desperate? Why it seems you would fit right in, my boy." A voice suddenly spoke up behind us, echoing off the cold stone walls.

Ilya and I jumped to our feet and spun around, desperately searching for the source of the sound. As we looked to the entrance, we watched in horror as a large, clunky figure slowly walked out from the shadows, a gun held tightly in his robotic hand.

"In fact, all this talk of death traps almost makes me regret you'll never get to see it…"

Even through that Protectron shell, I could sense that mile-long smile from here.

"Hello, Jacob. So very nice to see you again."


	16. Ch 15:When the World Comes Crashing Down

Whew! That took me longer than expected. What was originally one chapter has now become three, now sitting above 8,600 words between them all. It was worth it though, I expanded some important dialogue for starters. Next ones coming up soon. Already rewrote the bulk of it, just the cap off remains.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 15: When the World Comes Crashing Down**

"Director…" I growled through my teeth.

Ilya quickly ducked behind me as I reached for my gun, but before I could even graze the handle, the Protectron had fired off a warning shot at my feet, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said through the cold static of the speakers.

We stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity, no idea what to do. I could barely wrap my head around the reality of it all. It seemed only moments ago we were celebrating our first major breakthrough in this whole ordeal, and now, we were facing down the barrel of a gun. None of this made any sense… The Protectron had been completely under Ilya's control only moments ago, so what happened? It was one thing for the Director to speak through his own creations, but all the Old World machines were limited to small local networks, so he would need a direct uplink into the system, wouldn't he? I may not have been as tech-savvy as Ilya, but I did know the Brotherhood had conducted dozens of experiments with remote hacking technology, only to find the whole concept completely untenable. So, how? How was he doing it? How had he found us and how was he here now?

The Director watched us carefully, a dark sense of fascination as he analyzed our every move. His stiff robotic frame tilted curiously to the side as if he were examining a pair of particularly interesting specimens, right before slicing them open on the operating table.

"Why Jacob, what's the matter? Aren't you happy to see me?" The Director said in a mocking tone, "After everything we've been through? I'm hurt, Jacob, truly. After all, the last time we'd met, you had only just destroyed one of my most extensive experiments to date, throwing away years of hard work and careful planning in the process… And you really thought it would be that easy to escape? Honestly, I don't know which offends me more, your lack of vision or your complete and utter stupidity."

"H-how…? How are you even here?" It was all I could muster in the moment, pathetic as it sounded to my own ears.

"Oh, Jacob…" The Director chided with a wag of his robotic claw, "Don't you get it? Have you really not figured it out? My dear boy, I am not _here_ at all… but rather I am everywhere, and nowhere, all at once." Another mad laugh echoed off the walls and I felt Ilya grip my hand so tight I could no longer feel my fingers.

"I have eyes and ears all over the Commonwealth, in ways you couldn't even imagine. There is nowhere you can go that I cannot follow, nothing you can say that I will not overhear, and nothing you can do that I would not already know about. The truth is… you never even had a chance. It was hopeless from the start."

"You know, it's funny…" the Director continued, a self-satisfied smile dripping from every word, "To think that I have never so much as set foot in this wretched Wasteland, and yet, I stand alone as the most powerful man it has ever known. Why, the very mention of the Institute is enough to strike terror into the hearts of men, so much so, that none dare even speak its name. Of course, I still hear a hushed and hurried whisper every now and again, but what amuses me most is how little they actually know. Had they any idea how much control I truly had over their pathetic little lives… their tiny, inferior minds would simply explode. And you thought you could pose a threat to me? Please, Jacob… you can't even touch me."

"Now then, enough of this idle chit-chat," the Director spat as he raised the gun even higher, "It would seem you have something that belongs to me, and I think it is high time I take it back. The device, Jacob… Hand it over. Now."

With no other choice, I slowly reached into Ilya's pocket and retrieved the peculiar contraption, hesitating for only a moment before handing it over to the robotic monstrosity before me. The Director grasped the device carefully between his powerful pincers, holding it up to the light before he began scanning the item into his database.

"Interesting…" he said to himself before turning back to us once again.

"You know, I really should be thanking you for all the trouble you've saved me. Not only did you manage to solve all those ridiculous riddles, but you couldn't have made infiltrating the security systems any easier for me if you'd tried. I mean, resetting the protocols? Had you learned nothing from your time in the mine, Jacob? Regardless, I do suppose a debt of gratitude is owed, so truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you…" He added with great relish before turning to the girl cowering behind me.

"Now then, Miss Astor, if you'll kindly come with me, we can finally be on our way…"

"What? No!" She yelled as defiantly as she could, "I'm not going anywhere with the likes of you, you'll have to kill me first!"

"Oh, please, spare me the histrionics, my dear. I have a busy schedule to keep and I've already lost far too much time thanks to you and your little stunt at Diamond City. After all, Jacob said it himself… You are clearly the key to this entire conundrum, and the only one who can uncover the truth. Now, get moving. Before I'm forced to shoot dear Mr. Burns in the head just to prove a point," he added coldly before waving the girl over to his side. He turned to me once again, a smirk evident in his self-assured voice.

"I don't know if you're a much of a man of science Jacob, but I do hope you enjoy this laboratory, as it will be your tomb," he said as he pulled out the key to the bookcase above, the implications not lost on me.

"Wait a minute," Ilya cried out, "You can't just leave him down here, he'll die!" But the Director simply ignored her as his robotic claw clenched tightly around her arm.

"No, stop it! Let go of me! JACOB!" Ilya screamed.

I was numb. Paralyzed. My mind seemed to be at a complete loss even as my eyes darted frantically around the room, desperately trying to piece together some kind of an escape plan, but there was nothing… Nothing I could do but watch as the Director dragged the girl away. My hand ached for my gun like never before, but it was no use. The risk of hitting Ilya was far too great and the bastard knew it. My world was spinning, a panic rising in my chest, and as my mind came to a point where it had exhausted all other thought, I was left with nothing but to tilt my head to the heavens and whisper a short, desperate plea.

As I opened my eyes, however, it became clear that no divine intervention would be needed after all.

"Hey, jackass!" I yelled as I raised my gun, but not at the robot. No, instead I pointed straight up.

The Director turned around, gun at the ready, that was, until he saw where I was aiming. I allowed the realization to sink in before firing off several quick shots.

I held my breath as the lasers flew through the air, terrified of the consequences should I miss. At last, one managed to pierce right through the central support of the galactic model above us, a heavy metal chain hanging from the middle of the ceiling. Almost as if in slow motion, we watched as the great structure began to buckle beneath its own weight. Cable after cable snapped as the ancient framework tore from the ceiling, the tremors sending the heavy bronze orbs crashing to the ground like cannon fire falling from the sky. Finally, the galaxy gave way.

Ilya and I dove for cover, but the slow, outdated Protectron never had a chance. As the heavy frame collided with the floor, it struck down with a thunderous crash that exploded into a firestorm of flying gears and burning steel.

When I looked up, the room was in ruins, and quickly filling with smoke. The beautiful marble had been shattered beneath the smoldering mass of bronze, the Protectron itself completely unrecognizable amid all the destruction. The lab had been utterly destroyed, the fanciful instruments smashed to pieces, and the computer databases reduced to rubble beneath the heavy bombardment.

As I looked around, I realized I couldn't see Ilya anywhere. I clamored to my feet only to spin around in circles, until, at last, I caught a glimpse of that Vault-Tec blue suit beneath a sheet of metal debris.

 _No!_

It was all I could think as I raced across the room and lifted the metal off of her unmoving body. I began to shake her with all my might and to my great relief, she sputtered out a deep cough as she came to. She may have been a little disoriented and scraped up to all hell, but she was ultimately unharmed, and that was all that mattered. As I tried to help her to her feet, however, she pushed me away.

"The Oculus!" She suddenly cried out, "He shoved it into my hands at the last second… Where did it go?!" But before I could answer, she was scrambling along the floor, digging through the debris even as the heavy black smoke quickly culminated around her. Dammit, we didn't have time for this! I grabbed the girl by the scruff of her neck, hoisting her to her feet with the full intention of evacuation, when she suddenly squealed with delight, pointing towards a small glint of gold peeking out from beneath the console. I scooped up the device in one hand and checked my gun in the other.

"We've got to get out of here, now!" I said as I began to cough as well, the smoke becoming thicker and more toxic with every passing second, "Before the entire building comes down!" Without another word, we both raced through the flames and up the stairs, my senses tingling and my gun at the ready.

As soon as we burst into the library, however, I could tell we were already in for the fight of our lives.

"HOSTILES DETECTED"

The robotic voice announced as a hail of gunfire suddenly rained down upon us. Instinctively, I ducked behind one of the bookcases with Ilya in tow, my heart pounding in my chest. As I looked around the corner, I had expected to see another broken-down Protectron, but instead, it was the plastic face of a Gen 2 synth that was quickly bearing down on us, and unlike the Protectron, this motor could move. I narrowly dodged a bullet to the head, but before I knew it, the synth had me pinned against the bookcase, knocking our guns to the floor and grasping for my neck with those cold, inhuman hands.

I raged against the machine, lashing out with everything I could, but my strikes seemed only to glance off of his polypropylene armor, leaving my hands bloodied and bruised. I bucked off the wall, sending us both crashing to the ground in a flurry of fists, but before I knew what was happening, the creature was on top of me, raining down blow after blow like a jackhammer to my skull. A galaxy of stars exploded behind my eyes, my head swimming in a daze as my vision began to blur. Suddenly, I felt those metallic fingers clench tight around my throat and I shot up. One look into his cold dead eyes and I saw it, a spark of consciousness shining just beyond his optical sensors…

The Director _was_ watching. Watching me as I died.

I struggled and gasped for breath as the machine squeezed tighter and tighter, but the darkness was already closing in, my tired and beaten body no longer able to hold out against the onslaught. I flickered in and out of consciousness, my only thoughts of Ilya and what would happen to her without me. As the thundering of my own heartbeat began to slow, I cursed myself for being so weak. I had failed my brothers and now, here I was, failing again…

Suddenly, I heard a loud CRACK smack over the creature above me, his vice-like grip releasing as I sputtered out a cough and clamored to my feet. As my vision slowly returned, I saw Ilya, holding what was left of an old wooden chair like a club and slowly backing away into a corner, the synth looming over her with every step.

I staggered forward, grabbing the machete from my belt and with one fell swoop plunged the blade into its mechanical heart, Ilya's scream echoing throughout the hall as the blood-oil spewed from his chest.

As the creature fell to the ground, I grabbed Ilya off the floor and we ran.

Back in the main lobby, more synthetic faces were appearing out of the dark, coming at us from all sides. Almost as if from thin air, their skeletal hands grasped for us at every turn, their yellow eyes gleaming with malice even as they left their weapons at their sides. Lucky for me, they seemed too afraid of hitting the girl or the device to shoot, but as we ducked down the grand staircase and back towards the main entrance, we were met with about a dozen more crawling out of the annex we'd entered so long ago. I thought we were cornered for sure, when Ilya suddenly grabbed hold of my hand.

"This way!" she cried out, and with that we ran madly down the hall, passing through another exhibition room and dashing through a small door hidden off to the side. As soon as the metal door shut behind us, Ilya latched the deadbolt before winding a set of heavy chains around the handle for good measure.

As I looked around, I could see we were standing in a dark stairwell, one that led into an abandoned underground subway. Ilya wasted no time with explanations, leading me straight down the steps and over a set of rusty turnstiles before the tunnel opened up into old Copley Station. Even after all this time, suitcases and newspapers were still strewn about the room, the lonely remnants of long forgotten travelers destined never to return home. The train itself sat cold and dead on the tracks, a large blast door blocking the only way out. As I searched the surrounding area, I had hoped for another entrance that opened out to the street, but every path was blocked, every exit caved-in. As I turned to Ilya, I could hear the synths banging on the door above, their lasers sure to make quick work of the aging metal.

"What now?" I asked, but Ilya just ignored me as she raced across the platform and towards an old maintenance hatch. There, just beyond the window glass, was the control room and our ticket out of here. Without another word, I watched as Ilya began to hack into the security terminal and within a matter of seconds, she had the door open. She raced towards the console and began to boot up the system, but as soon as the screen flickered on, I watched as her face fell.

"Oh," she said, suddenly looking very lost.

"What are you waiting for?" I said frantically, "Hurry up and get these gates open, we ain't got all day!"

"No, you don't understand…" Ilya replied, a terrified look upon her face, "It's this system… I've never seen anything like it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I can hack my way into just about anything, but this? This doesn't even run on the standard UOS or use any of the basic coding I'm familiar with. You might as well be asking me to read Chinese! Just look at this company… Have you ever heard of it before? Because I know I haven't," she added as she pointed towards the screen where large blocky letters flashed in a bright fluorescent green: "JANUS SYSTEMS".

"Well, that just sounds like some kind of Poseidon Energy offshoot, doesn't it? Those corporate bastards had always thought themselves gods, after all. Why else would they name every product and subsidiary they ownws after them? What is it, a Greek god of war or something?" But Ilya just shook her head.

"This is Roman, Jacob, not Greek… But honestly the name's origins hardly matter at this point, because all it really means is that we're stuck here!"

"Well, you've got to try!" I yelled at the girl, the commotion above getting louder and louder with every passing second, "Unless, of course, dying at the bottom of a hole is an option for you, then by all means, let's just sit this one out," I added snarkily, but Ilya only glared. Without another word, she turned back to the screen, typing furiously into the console.

I left the girl to her work as I raced back out into the subway, the noise now rising to new heights as they neared breaking through the door. I spotted a gate near the bottom of the steps and pushed it into place, but found only a rusty broken padlock that refused to close shut. Even so, it would buy us some time at the very least. I rushed back to the office where I found Ilya cursing at the screen, but before I could even ask, I watched as things took a turn for the worse.

"What!?" She suddenly cried out, "Oh no… No, it didn't… Oh God, it did! It locked me out! The security protocol defaulted the controls back to its parent server, there's absolutely nothing I can do! Oh I knew it, I knew I didn't know what I was doing… and now, we really are stuck here with no way out!" She cried as she looked up at me with her bright blue eyes, and I could suddenly hear my last words to her coming back to haunt me. I looked at my gun, my last energy cell over half depleted, and I knew.

We weren't going to last two minutes.

As that horrible reality began to sink in, I could feel myself go numb. This was it. We were done for. There was simply nothing I could do. Hell, even if I secured the control room right now, how long would it actually hold? Ten… maybe fifteen minutes? And how long after that before we were overrun? One synth had almost been enough to do me in, so what hope did I really have against a dozen more? I swallowed the lump in my throat as I took out a flask from my pocket and unscrewed the cap. After a long hard pull, I put it away, stared at my gun, and cocked it.

Well, If a last stand it was going to be, then I sure as hell wasn't gonna go out without a fight.

But before I could finish that thought, something miraculous happened. An automated tone chimed throughout the station, echoing off the walls as the prerecorded voice of a woman began reading off the train schedule. The screen before us suddenly flickered on, a mad string of code flying across its face as it enacted some kind of boot-up sequence, and before we knew it, the entire subway had come to life once more.

Our excitement, however, was short lived. Not long after, we quickly realized the controls were still in lockdown and our commands useless. The gate before us remained firmly shut and as a dull static began to fill the underground, a hollow pit began to form in my stomach. As I looked at Ilya, it was clear neither of us knew what to make of it all, and so, we sat there and just braced ourselves for whatever was to come next.

Suddenly, a voice spoke. One I had never heard before in my life.


	17. Ch 16: Stranger at the Gate

**Chapter 16: Stranger at the Gate**

"Hello? HELLO!? Can anybody hear me? Good heavens, is this thing on? Well, no wonder it's not working right, just look at these calibrations… They're all over the place! Emogene, you weren't messing with my settings again, were you? …Emogene? EMOGENE!"

"Oh forget it..." The man sighed to himself, "She never listens to me anyway. Why, I could stitch that very message right into her cerebral cortex and it still wouldn't sink in! Now then... What was I doing again?"

Ilya and I looked at each other, no words to describe our surprise. Just who the hell was this? We had expected the cold, calculating voice of the Director to come gloating through those speakers, but instead, we were met only with this impossible stranger, a stranger that was starting to seem a few electrons short of an atom, if you know what I mean.

"A BREACH!" The man shouted suddenly as Ilya and I nearly jumped out of our seats, "Yes, that's what it was, a breach! In _my_ security systems. Now then, I'm not sure who you think you are or how you managed to get so close, but you listen here and you listen good... This system of mine is the most advanced security and surveillance network ever developed in the Old World, with a dual-faced firewall and extra-protectionary protocols built right into the base code! Why, not even the most well-trained Chinese spies could hack into this mainframe of mine, let alone a jet-lagged, brahmin-brained ignoramus like yo- Oh… wait a moment. What's this?" The man stopped the curiosity plain in his voice.

"Why… You're not raiders, you're not raiders at all! Just who are you, then? What are you doing hacking into my systems this time of night?" The haughty voice demanded as it echoed throughout the room.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry," Ilya stuttered, completely taken aback, "Please sir, I promise we meant no harm. We were only trying to open the door out of this tunnel. We are in grave danger and in desperate need of escape, so please, I beg of you, open this door!"

"Oh really, is that so?" The voice asked without missing a beat, " _Grave danger,_ is it? As if I've never heard that one before… You may not look like raiders, but you certainly know how to spin a yarn like one. Of course, that won't be a problem. The surveillance footage should be more than sufficient to discern the truth from the fiction. Don't fret, this should only take a moment."

"Hey! Aren't you listening?" I yelled indignantly, "She said we're gonna _die_ if you don't do something! We don't have time for you to sift through all the data, just open the damned door!"

I cursed under my breath as the man simply ignored me. It was just our luck when you thought about it… that a miracle should arrive at the last second only to leave us standing outside the door. Ilya and I had no choice but to sit and wait in silence, with nothing but this madman to decide our very fates.

At long last, the man spoke again, an awe in his voice as he whispered so quietly that I almost didn't hear it.

"As I live and breathe…" The man whispered in disbelief, "Can it be? Is what I'm seeing true? Why, after all this time, I can hardly believe my eyes… Ilya Astor, you've awoken at last."

"I'm sorry, but… who _are_ you?" Ilya asked, suddenly very unsure of herself.

"A friend," the man said hastily, "and that's all you need to know for now. Please, you'll have to forgive me, I hadn't realized how dire the situation was and there is very little time… I've deployed the remaining security, but that will only distract the Institute for so long. Suffice to say that I am someone who knows all too well the dangers you face, and wants to see you succeed as much as you do. I know of what you seek and as it happens, I can help you reach your destination. I have access to a vast interconnected system that reaches far beyond this dingy old subway, a system that could be of great use to you in your quest. Now, I must ask, do you have the Oculus? Were you able to recover it from the laboratory before it burned?"

"Whoa! Hold up right there, just who the hell do you think you are?" I hollered, all my senses screaming out at once. This guy knew way too much for comfort, and I wasn't interested in making any more "friends" at the moment, either. "How do you know about Ilya and the Oculus? That shit's supposed to be top secret and I've yet to meet someone I liked that knew about it, so why don't you start by telling us your name and then we can talk."

"I'm not at liberty to say much," the man said, "This line is insecure and there's no telling who might be listening in, but for now, you can call me Jack."

As we both looked at each other, we didn't know what to think. Was this for real or just another ploy, some cruel trick to mess with our heads before pulling the rug out from underneath us. As if reading my mind, the man named Jack spoke again.

"I know what you must be thinking… I have a long way to earning your trust, but please, all I ask is for a chance to prove myself. Perhaps now that you're awake, we can at long last finish what your father started so many years ago, and then, maybe, just maybe, the world can begin to heal…"

Just then, the tunnel began to shake around us, a deep rumble resonating from high above our heads. The fire had no doubt reached the main lobby, and now, was threatening to bring the whole building down on top of us.

"Time is running out," the stranger said, "The library is burning fast and it won't be long before the entire building's integrity is compromised. I will explain everything later, but for now, please just trust me when I say I am a friend. Here, allow me to open the gate," he said as the blast door suddenly began to move, shaking off the ages of dust as it slowly retracted into the ceiling.

"Now go, and be careful, the fire has no doubt attracted all kinds of attention and I cannot be of any help once you are inside the tunnel. But worry not, for you and I shall surely meet again… in Nuka World." And with that, the intercom clicked off, just as the door gave way above and a flood of synths burst through. Ilya and I didn't say a word as we dashed out of the office and down the tunnel, the blast door slowly descending behind us.

* * *

As we raced through the darkness of the underground, we ducked down tunnel after tunnel, with nothing but the sound of our own heartbeats pounding in our ears. There was no looking back now, whoever this Jack fellow was, we simply had to trust that he had our backs as we escaped. We owed him our lives, that much was for sure, but something just didn't seem quite right. As we finally slowed down to catch our breath, I played the memory over and over again in my mind. He really had seemed surprised to see us in that tunnel, and yet, he had known so much about who we were and what we were doing. Either way, it begged the question, could we really trust this man?

 _Any enemy of the Order was a friend of mine,_ I thought silently to myself, _at least for now…_

We continued along the tracks for what seemed like an eternity, the occasional rumble from the library our only indication of how far we'd gone, when at last, a pinprick of light shone before us in the distance, the tunnel opening up to the surface where the sun was just rising above the horizon. I turned towards Ilya, a smile wide on my face. We'd actually made it, and in one piece no less. The girl had proven herself to be more resourceful than I ever would have thought, but she still had a lot to learn. Nuka World promised to be one hell of a ride… and I still had no idea how we were going to get inside, let alone how we were going to find the next clue, but perhaps it was this new friend of ours that would be our golden ticket after all.

But as I stepped out into the morning light, my thoughts were cut short.

WHAM

Before I knew what was happening, my legs were taken out from under me and I had hit the ground, my head only just missing the steel rail of the tracks. Through blurred vision, I looked up, my legs entangled in some kind of cord attached to weights, a bola by the looks of it. As I was trying to process this, a figure suddenly appeared from behind a tree, a lash of rope in his hands as he raced towards me. In an instant, I realized what was happening.

"AMBUSH!" I cried out as loud as I could, "Ilya, RUN!"

As I reached for my gun, I never even had a chance. Before I knew it, the man was on top of me, the end of his pistol cracking over my skull as a dozen more figures appeared above. As I looked over at the tunnel where Ilya had been standing only moments ago, I could only hope she had managed to get out of sight before the scum had seen her, but I had no way of knowing. Before I could even finish that thought, a final crushing blow came down on top of me, everything suddenly turning to black, and I knew nothing more.

* * *

Whoo-hoo! I finally got one out in a reasonable amount of time! Anyway, this chapter marks me breaking 50,000 (Okay, so not quite, but super close!), and we're about a third the way through so far. Lots more surprises coming up, I'm particularly excited for this next chapter as it really does mark a changeup in the character dynamics. The chapter title?

Chapter 17: A Eulogy for Jacob Burns

Muwhahahahaha! ;D


	18. Ch 17: A Eulogy for Jacob Burns

I know it's been a long time, but like I said, I'm always working at it. I had a lot going on these last few months, from a funeral to a wedding, to a new baby in my extended family, as well as a new job, but I feel like i'm back on track and am ready to write!

This is my favorite chapter so far, so please, by all means, let me know what you think!

* * *

 **Chapter 17: A Eulogy for Jacob Burns**

I felt like I'd been hit by a freight train.

The back of my head throbbed angrily as my mind pushed through to consciousness, voices echoing off in the distance as the ringing in my head began to clang louder than a railway crossing. I opened my eyes, only to shut them again, certain I was about to throw up.

I was being carried, slung over the shoulder of a massive man. The jerking motion of his uneven steps made my stomach feel like it was trapped on a tilt-a-whirl gone haywire, but I focused all my energy on the situation at hand. I raced through the blurring images of the last hour in my mind, desperately trying to piece together everything that had happened, but every time it seemed within reach, it slipped through my fingers like so much pale smoke.

When finally, it hit me.

Ilya! Oh God, what happened to her…? She must have gone back down the tunnel, but who knows if there was another way out? For all I knew, she was trapped under a cave in, or eaten alive by a mirelurk, or worse, at the mercy of the Director and his synthetic monstrosities, doing God-knows-what. Her father was tortured to death for this information, what would they do to her?

I wasted no time, formulating a plan even as I feigned unconsciousness. I could tell by the empty holster at my side that they had already taken my weapons, and to make matters worse, I hadn't the faintest idea where we were going. The distant sound of gunfire told me we had left the underground, but other than that, we could be anywhere by now.

It was quickly becoming clear… There was no fighting my way out of this one. Not only was I being carried by a man twice my size, but from what I could gather, there had to be at least half a dozen more surrounding me. As I laid there with my eyes closed, I got the sense that this wasn't just some random ambush. They had known where we were, and a raider doesn't drag his victim halfway across the city to rob him… Something told me this was personal.

Suddenly, a voice called out for the others to stop, but my body kept moving. The man carrying me just continued to lurch forward, seemingly oblivious to his leader's orders.

"Hey, _big guy,_ when I tell you to stop, you stop," the man ordered again.

"AAHG! I tell you before human…MY NAME NOT "BIG GUY"!"

That voice. That horrible, horrible voice. Deep and guttural like a jagged knife that cut right to the bone. A tremor of terror ran through me as the weight of the situation came down like a ton of bricks.

"RAWRHG!"

A roar ripped through the night air as my eyes snapped wide open, suddenly very much awake. The metal collar around my captor's neck lit up like a lightning storm, electrifying him into submission. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground and crawling away as quickly as possible from the writhing beast next to me, but before I could get away, one of the men jerked me back. Sure enough, it was one of Hancock's pinstriped goons. I caught the bastard on the jaw and knocked him off balance, sending him flying into a pair of trash cans, but that was as far as I got. The rest of them were on top of me and had me pinned in no time flat.

The beast was lying on the ground, grunting heavily as it tried to catch its breath. Its face was contorted in an inhuman grimace, its leathery green body covered in the scars that came with the brutal life of such a creature. The scientists of the Pre-War era had a lot to account for, but none greater than their unleashing of these hellspawn upon humanity. They were men once, now twisted and devolved into vicious brutes, with only a single thought in their tiny, bloodthirsty brains.

Destroy. Maim. Kill.

This was a Super Mutant.

They were called "Super" because that's what they were supposed to be. A superior race of men that could withstand the harshness of the apocalypse. Bigger, stronger, smarter… well, bigger and stronger anyways. The eggheads never did perfect their recipe for their virus to evolve humanity into a newer "better" state, and instead, they settled for a serum that would provide them with near invincible super soldiers to fuel their endless war. It only came with a few minor side effects. After all, what was a little uncontrollable rage, schizophrenic hallucinations, and a few genocidal tendencies in comparison to how it would affect the fight on the eastern front?

Hancock had to be crazy to use one of them, that or really, _really_ pissed off…

"So there, fella, you wanna to cooperate now?" The man said.

"Grrr," he growled his reluctant assent and got to his feet, docile once more.

"Now then, why don't you help our good friend here to his feet so we can get moving?" The mutant nodded and before I knew it, he had me by the ankles and my head was dangling inches above the ground.

"No, I meant… ah, forget it. Just carry him inside, you idiot." The mutant grunted in what I could only assume was another 'yes' and we began moving once again. As we headed back down the road, I alone heard his gruff whisper.

"I not Idiot… I Strong…"

* * *

The mutant called 'Strong' carried me like that the rest of the way, until at last, a towering steeple came into view. The large brick building sat in shambles, like the bones of a great beast with its maw open wide, ready to swallow me whole. In an instant, I knew where we were. This was none other than Old North Church… Its grand history had spanned the centuries, being the oldest building in the country and the site of the fabled lanterns that had once warned Paul Revere of the coming British. Looking at it now, it was an absolute miracle it was still standing after all these years, but it wasn't the antiquated tales of tyrannical invasions from far-off lands that concerned me. No, this wasn't just some cheap tourist stop anymore, this… this was the site of a massacre.

 _This was where the Railroad had ended._

Inside, the place was a mess, a shell of its former self. The once beautiful building had been long left to the ravages of the Wasteland, and every inch of the room showed it. As we entered, the mutant sidestepped a large pipe organ that sat smashed to pieces on the ground, no doubt having fallen through the moldy floorboards long ago. Likewise, a great gaping hole grinned at us from the ceiling above, the pale morning light flooding into the room and filling it with an eerie glow amidst a haze of dust and debris. As we walked down the aisle, the air heavy with the stench of death and decay, I suddenly realized how much like gravestones the pews looked half-buried in the wreckage…

At last, we stopped before the altar and the great brute dropped me on my head without a hint of warning. I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could only to find myself completely surrounded. Watchmen lined the balconies above, whooping and hollering as they waited for the show to begin. Wild, raging, and drunk, they were armed to the hilt as they cried out for blood… My blood. As I gazed back towards the entrance, I saw Fahrenheit, that icy bitch, with a cigarette in her mouth and a smile on her face as she took up her position in the back. No way out, no escape.

Suddenly, a slow clap began to echo throughout the room, cutting through the tension like a sharp knife. Before I knew what was happening, the entire hall had exploded into cheers and applause as Hancock appeared out of the shadows, that smug yellow-toothed smile on his face as he slowly ascended the up steps to the podium. With all the flair one could expect from the ringleader of this two-cent carnival, he raised his hands high above his head and an excited hush fell over the room.

"Friends! Brothers! Freaks of the Wasteland!" Hancock cried out like a preacher at the pulpit, "We are gathered here in the holy light of Fuck-All to honor and mourn the soon-to-be-departed, Jacob Burns. Murderer, traitor, coward… and the last dumb asshole to ever screw me over," he added as he raised up a flask, letting out a hearty laugh that echoed throughout the room.

"So then, what can be said about dear Mr. Burns, eh?" Hancock continued, that smile of his growing wider by the second, "Why, practically a legend in his own right, the man ensured his place in infamy the day he single-handedly brought down the great airship _Prydwen,_ damning his own brothers to die engulfed in flame. Not content with this shame, he had a particular penchant for showing up where he wasn't wanted, until he finally found himself cast out of every vestige of civilization in the Commonwealth, left to die out in the unforgiving wastes alone."

"That was, until he managed to crawl his way onto _my_ doorstep…"

"Now, some of you might say, and rightly so, that I have always held a bit of a soft spot for the outcast, the underdog, the vagrant and the vagabond… Perhaps, it would seem, to a fault, for as I watched the world turn its back on this man without so much as a trial, do you know what I saw? Why, I saw a neighbor… A neighbor in need, like so many of us had once been. I daresay, there wouldn't be a single man among us today if not for second chances... And so, against all advice and counsel, I let this man in. I let him into my home, to my people, and to my family…" Hancock's voice drifted off for a moment as he gazed up fondly at the crowd before his brow hardened once more.

"And how do you suppose I was repaid for my kindness? For this mercy towards a man that had shown me and mine none? Why… wouldn't you know it, but I woke up the next morning with a knife sticking out the middle of my back!"

The room suddenly exploded into chaos. Everywhere I looked, men were calling for my head and worse as broken bottles and heavy debris began raining down on top of me. This whole scene was taking an ugly turn for the worse, and fast. If I didn't come up with something quick, I was going to be a goner for sure. I rallied all my courage as I swallowed the ever-growing lump in my throat and began to speak.

"Listen, Hancock!" I blurted out, my voice cracking as the sweat began to pour down the back of my neck, "You've got to believe me, I had no way of knowing there would be synths down in that mine! Hell, I was just as surprised as you were and barely escaped with my life! But the vault, the treasure… I saw it, Hancock, it's real, I swear! It's just that… this thing… It's all so much bigger than I could have ever imagined. If you just let me go, then I swear on my life, I'll be able to pay you back and then some! C'mon man, just give me a chance!" I barely got the last words out before I was on my knees, a swift punch to the gut stealing the air from my lungs. I gasped for breath as the man's goons laughed insidiously, closing in on me with their weapons drawn, but with a quick wave of Hancock's hand, they stopped dead in their tracks. Everything seemed still for a moment as they awaited their orders…

"You know, this reminds me of a story," Hancock said almost casually as if the thought had nearly slipped his mind, "A sort of cautionary tale if you will… and a lasting reminder to all the Commonwealth on exactly what happens to those who place their trust where it doesn't belong. And to think, it all happened right here… in this very room. Of course, you _do_ know where we are… don't you Burnsie?" He continued with that wicked smile.

 _Of course,_ I thought spitefully to myself. Everybody knew about Old North Church… Why, up until the _Prydwen's_ fall it was all anyone could talk about. In reality, it had been the canary in the coal mine, the first time the Institute had really shown what they were capable of. Back then, no one had even heard of the Railroad before, let alone considered the idea of actually helping the synths. It was just so unthinkable, it hadn't even crossed their minds. The Brotherhood had known of course, but whoever the leader of the Railroad was, had been a master of diversion and espionage, so much so, that even our best intelligence could barely bring back more than mere whispers and rumors, let alone any hard data. It wasn't until here, at the church, that we'd seen how deep the rabbit hole went, or how merciless the Institute could be.

The whole thing was over before it had even begun. The synths had come from everywhere, and nowhere, all at once, descending upon the church like demons reclaiming the gates of hell. They overwhelmed the Railroad's forces with sheer numbers and firepower, and within a matter of minutes, their screams could be heard echoing throughout the streets of Old Boston. Then… just as quickly, they were silenced. Never to be heard from again. To this day, no one really knows how the Institute had found them, hidden so deeply within the ancient catacombs of the crumbling cathedral, but one thing was for sure, by the end of that night, everyone knew the Railroad's name, and precisely what would happen to them if they ever ran afoul of the Institute's good graces.

"What's the matter, Burnsie? Ain't you got nothing to say?" That horrible rasping voice spoke up again, snapping me back to reality. Hancock leered gleefully over the podium, his flesh dangling from his face as that yellow-toothed smirk spread wide, "Now don't tell me you've gone and forgotten what happened to our dear friends at the Railroad? Why, considering what the Institute did to it, I figured you could relate… Tell me, Burnsie, who do you think got it worse? The Railroad or your boys? Because I'd always thought a quick explosion would be the way to go, but then I realized that not all the Brotherhood would have died on impact. Can you imagine? Surviving an attack like that only to drown in the bay below… But let's gets serious, after all, this whole question is a bit of a joke… I mean, how can anyone compare the loss of a few misguided outcasts to that of a thousand drowned rats?"

A surge of rage ripped through me as I jumped to my feet, more than ready to settle this thing once and for all, but it was clear Hancock had no intention of taking me on himself. Before I knew it, there were a dozen hands forcing me to the ground amid the cheers and jeers of the crowd. I cursed myself for being baited so easily, but then again, Hancock always did know how to push my buttons…

"Predictable as always, Burnsie…" He chuckled as he pulled out an old carton of cigarettes and placed one between his sore-ridden lips, making sure to enjoy a nice, long drag before speaking again.

"And see," he continued in between puffs, "That's the problem right there… After all, the Railroad had known what they were getting into, how could they not? Everyone had warned them not to trust the synths, but they wouldn't listen, insisting that beneath all those microchips and artificial flesh lied the soul of a man. They all knew so much better, and the rest of us? Well, we were just being unfair, bigots even… and if only we would take the synths in and give them a home, a life, a future, then you'd see. They're just like us, yearnin' to be free…"

"Of course, you and I both know that's nothin' but a crock of shit. The Railroad should've gotten a clue to that when they had to reprogram the damn things in the first place! It really was their own fault in the end. No one to blame but themselves, no matter how good their intentions may have been. Oh, how we had laughed it up when we'd gotten the news. Of course, the Institute had infiltrated their ranks… How could they not when the Railroad had practically invited the enemy willingly into their arms? All of us in Goodneighbor just sat back and had a good long laugh at what gullible suckers those high-and-mighty synth-lovers really were. Because when it comes down to it, there just ain't no trusting a thing like that. It's what they are. It's just what they do… what they were _made to do_."

"Which brings me back to you, Burnsie… Because you see, our tale is very much the same. Everyone had told me not to trust you, not to let you in, and I gave you a chance anyway. But there is one thing different about our story, Jacob. I'm not going to let you do me in… You ain't about to be the loose end that turns into a noose around my neck…"

Suddenly, a pair of hands hooked my arms behind my back, holding me in place as Hancock smiled that hideous smile. The ghoul took another lazy drag from his cigarette before he whipped out a switchblade and began to twirl it between his fingertips. Before I knew it, he had jumped down from the podium and was bearing down on me with knife in hand.

"You know Jacob," he said lazily as he walked, "I didn't want to have to kill you, I really didn't. I'd honestly hoped you'd have kept your word and we could have just put this whole ugly mess behind us, after all, I'm sure there's plenty of assholes out there that would enjoy this a lot more than me, but as I told you before… A good neighbor always pays his debts."

"Y-you don't have to do this, Hancock!" I cried out desperately as I began to shake, sweat pouring down my back as I begged for my life, "I'm telling you the truth, I swear! There _is_ another vault out there, bigger than any other and beyond our wildest dreams, and… and I can prove it!" I blurted out without thinking, but it seemed to work. Hancock stopped playing with the knife and glared. Before I knew it, he was inches from my face so close I could smell the necrosis.

"Prove it, huh? And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Hancock asked as he rested the tip of the knife beneath my chin. I swallowed hard.

"It's something we, er… I, found. Down in the mine, I mean library! It s-sort of looks like an old spyglass, but it's called an 'oculus device', some kind of trick lens that reveals secret messages. I used it on the map and it worked, told me where to find the next marker. Just… just check my pockets, it's got to be there somewhere!" I added breathlessly, praying to whatever god was up there that it would be enough. I watched with bated breath as Hancock withdrew the knife and seemed to think it over, weighing all the pros and cons in his mind before he did what he always did in these situations. He looked down, let out a deep sigh, and shook his head. Every muscle in my body tensed.

"You're breaking my heart here, Burnsie…"

And just like that, my fate was sealed. All the blood began to drain from my face as the crowd erupted into a roar of applause. There wasn't a man alive that didn't know what those words meant. They cheered their leader on as he walked around the room, his hands raised above his head as he whipped the audience up into a frenzy.

"So whaddya say, boys?" He called out with glee, "Is he a synth or ain't he? Guess we gotta crack him open to find out! Better place your bets now, it's gonna be your last chance…" He added darkly as the crowd cheered wildly again.

I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. My vision began to blur as the adrenaline drowned all my senses. The cheers around me grew louder and louder as they called for my head until the sound thundered in my ears. I didn't know what to do. I watched helplessly as Hancock began to approach me once again, the steel of the blade grinning in the sunlight as he walked. He grabbed me by my collar and lifted me up, staring me dead in the eyes with a look of steely resolve.

"Let's find out what you're made of, eh Jacob?" The man whispered in my ear as he raised the knife above his head. I stood paralyzed as I held my breath and closed my eyes, waiting for the final blow to strike.

But it never came.

At that very moment, the door slammed open behind me and I could hear the sound of several people entering the room. My breath hitched in my throat, the blade mere inches from my flesh, as Hancock looked up with a scowl on his face. Everything seemed to stand perfectly still as heavy footsteps made their way up the aisle, and I started to wonder what fresh hell this could possibly bring.

As soon as Hancock's men made it onto the stage, however, I had gotten my answer… in the form of that unforgettable shade of Vault-Tec blue.

My heart sank into the floor.

Even with a bag over her head and her hands tied behind her back, that figure was impossible to mistake. Ilya had been captured.

"Well, well, well… What do we have here?" Hancock said smoothly as he eyed the girl's voluptuous figure, suddenly very much intrigued, "Burnsie, baby… A vault dweller? What else have you been holding out on me?"

"We found her snooping around outside, boss," one of the henchmen offered, "Looking for a way inside. Figured she had to be with Burnsie here since there ain't no one else dumb enough to try… So, what you want us to do with her?" He asked, but Hancock didn't seem to be listening, an idea or two already forming in his depraved little mind as dark-hooded eyes roved up and down the girl's body. The man made sure to straighten his jacket and adjust his hat before yanking the hood off her head and giving her his most charming smile.

Ilya let out a terrified gasp, her eyes wide as she backed away in horror, but Hancock didn't seem to mind, in fact, he seemed downright amused as he advanced closer and closer until the girl found herself backed up against a wall with nowhere to run. The man leaned in, a devious smile on his face, as he placed both his hands on either side of her head and whispered so close in her ear that she could no doubt smell the stale booze on his breath.

"Hey there, sweetheart, what's the matter? Ain't you never met a ghoul before?" He asked as a rotting hand moved in to brush away a lock of her hair. Ilya recoiled.

"Get away from me! Don't bite me!" She cried out as the room erupted into a round of laughter.

"Whoo boy! This one's straight out of the box, ain't she?" Hancock laughed as he reeled back, wiping a tear from his eye, "Listen girlie, I know I may look like something out of cheap horror flick, but I ain't no monster. And as for biting, I only do that on request," he added with a wink as the girl's face flushed a deep red.

"Leave her alone Hancock!" I demanded as I struggled against my bonds, "This is between you and me, she's got nothing to do with this!"

"Nothing? Sure don't look like nothing to me… In fact, I'm starting to think this little trinket here just might be worth something after all," he added as he pulled a glint of gold out from his pocket and my mouth dropped. The Oculus… Hancock… He had had it the whole time… and still he was gonna do me in! I thrashed against the men holding me back, but it was useless. Before I knew what was happening, Hancock was leering over the girl once again, knife in hand and Ilya's eyes wide in terror. But with one quick flick of his wrist, her bindings fell away to the floor, leaving Ilya to stand there looking very confused.

"You'll have to excuse the rather rude welcome, my dear," Hancock said as he placed the spyglass carefully into her hands, "But what can I say? We people of Goodneighbor just have our ways about these things, although you certainly have my apologies. But Burnsie and I… Well, we got some history, see? Unfinished business and all that… Can't say I didn't warn the bastard either, but this? This changes everything… I mean, if he was right about the vault, then what else might be hiding out there? I think I just might like to find out…"

"Now then!" He said with an excited clap of his hands, "Of course, I'm going to need all the details I can get, Burnsie's word don't hold much water 'round here if you hadn't noticed, so if you'd like, we can adjourn to the back room and discuss everything in private, perhaps over a nice bottle of wine…?"

"Ah, w-well… I'm not sure if that's such a… er, good idea…" Ilya said uncertainly, her eyes quickly darting back and forth between Hancock and myself.

"Oh, but where are my manners? By all means, allow me…" Hancock exclaimed, and with a snap of his fingers, his goons dropped me to the floor like a ton of bricks. I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could, glaring daggers at my would-be killer as he took off his hat and offered Ilya a low bow.

"The name's John Hancock… Mayor of Goodneighbor and scavver extraordinaire, at your service. And, you are…?"

"I-Ilya, Ilya Astor," she replied, completely taken aback. Hancock smiled warmly as he took her hand gently in his and gave it a tender kiss.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful woman… It's an absolute pleasure, my dear," the man said, laying on the charm so thick that I thought I just might throw up.

"Oh yeah, well it's been a _real_ blast for me, let me tell ya… An absolute thrill!" I yelled as I pushed myself in between the two of them, "Listen, as much as I've enjoyed the near-death experience, you ain't the only one interested in this vault. We've had the Institute on our tails ever since Diamond City and barely escaped that library with our lives. All we're doing now is losing precious time, so if you _are_ taking me up on my offer, then just hurry up and pick your goon squad and let's get this over with already…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there Burnsie! What's your hurry, now? Why, I ain't even dressed yet!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, not sure if I had heard that correctly.

"I'm sorry, what was that again?" I asked, my voice cracking ever so slightly as I did.

"Why Jacob, you didn't think I was about to send you off with just anybody, now did you? After the little stunt you pulled last time? No, I don't think so… I'm gonna keep you nice and close this time around… After all, I've got an investment to protect, now don't I? And besides, someone here's got to look out for Miss Astor," He said as he eyed the girl out the corner of his eye. I could feel my face fall.

"Aw, don't look so glum Jacob," he added as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "Something tells me this is the start of a beautiful relationship… dontcha think?"

And something told me I'd just bitten off more than I could chew.


	19. Ch 18: One Good Neighbor

**Chapter 18: One Good Neighbor**

We talked for what seemed like hours in that dark, dingy back room, Hancock pouring the wine like a fountainhead even as Ilya and I strained to stay awake. It had been a long night in that library, even longer still after nearly losing my head. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but didn't dare let Hancock out of my sight. The way the man kept leaning in towards Ilya, always with the offer of another glass of wine, had me on edge, but thankfully, Ilya knew enough to keep her wits about her. Despite this distraction, it was clear, the more Ilya talked about the vault and our discoveries, the more excited he got. By the end of it all, he looked more alive than I had ever seen him, even the mention of Nuka World couldn't curb his enthusiasm. He just brushed it off with a wave of his hand as he poured himself another drink.

"But… wait, aren't you worried? Not even a little bit?" Ilya asked, the disbelief apparent in her voice, "Surely that can't be true, after all, Jacob said the place was an absolute fortress, overrun by madmen and monsters that turned it into an ungodly death trap! He said there was no way in, and no way we'd ever make it out alive…"

"Oh, did he now?" Hancock said silkily as he leaned back in his chair, "Well, it just so happens that I rule an entire city of madmen and monsters, in fact, it seems to be a bit of a specialty of mine. Stick with me, sweetheart, and you and I will walk through Nuka World as easily as if we were strolling down the streets of Goodneighbor. Guaranteed."

I scoffed.

"You got something to say there, Burnsie?" Hancock asked.

"Yeah, doesn't somebody die every day in the streets of Goodneighbor?" I said as I raised my brow.

"Only those that deserve it, my friend…" Hancock replied with a dark smile and I scowled.

"Oh come off it Hancock," I said with a roll of my eyes, "You _know_ it's not going to be that easy, between the raiders and the radiation, we'll be lucky to get past the main gate alive. That place is going to be hell on earth and you know it!"

"Perhaps… But I think you're forgetting just who you're talking to. Why, I just so happen to be one of the most influential men in all of the Wasteland, well, all the Commonwealth anyway. Why, I'm a champion of raiders and scavvers alike, besides, I've already done business with Nuka World before. You just gotta know the right people and what channels to go through… Something someone like you wouldn't know nothing about. Hell, word is on the street people would rather shoot you as soon as look at you!" Hancock laughed as I glared daggers from across the room.

"Ah, excuse me…" Ilya interjected as politely as possible, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but… Did you just say you could actually get us inside Nuka World without getting caught? Truly?"

"What's the matter sweetheart, don't you trust me?" He said as he flashed another charming smile.

"Oh! Well now, I-I didn't say that _exactly_ … but well," she blushed ever so slightly as she trailed off, "If I'm being perfectly honest? No, Mr. Hancock. I don't trust you. Not even a little," Ilya admitted, a look of concern upon her face, unsure what a man like Hancock could be capable of. Luckily for her, Hancock only laughed.

"Ha-ha! Smart girl, honest too. I like that," He replied, "And after all, how can I blame ya? This ugly mug's the kinda face only a mother could love, and even she'd be hard-pressed not to put a bullet between these eyes. Listen girlie… I don't want you worrying your pretty little head about a thing, you hear? You're in Hancock's hands now and that makes you as good as gold, so you can trust that I'll get you wherever it is you need to go. You have my word. Now! Onto more pressing matters…" He said as he got to his feet.

"The two of you look about ready to keel over, and while I don't care so much about Burnsie here, I'd still rather if we made it past ten feet out the door before one of us croaks, bad business and all that. Besides, my contact won't be available until tomorrow anyways, so I suggest the both of you get some rest while you can. For you, Miss Astor, there's a small bedroom just down the hall to the right. Burnsie however, oughta feel right at home here on the couch, it'll be a right nice upgrade from that doghouse he's been sleeping in, at the very least! Just know that you are one hundred percent safe as long as you are in my care, and please, if you should need anything, anything at all, you need only ask."

Ilya smiled warily as she got to her feet and shook the man's hand, but before she knew it, he was bending over in another low bow and kissing the back of hers. Ilya blushed a light red before uttering a quick 'thank you' and rushing off to her bedroom, a large smile on Hancock's face as he watched her walk away.

"Hell of a day, eh Burnsie?" He said with a sigh and I shot the ghoul a glare.

"I know what you're doing, Hancock… And it's not going to work."

"Doing? Doing what? Why, I'm just trying to help out that poor sweet girl anyway I can… In fact, the more I think about it, the more I have to wonder what it is _you're_ getting out of all of this. After all, you had plenty of time to escape. I would have just as soon assumed you were dead, crushed under about twenty tons of dirt and rock, if not for you gallivanting halfway across the Commonwealth with a pretty vault girl on your arm. If you'd have bolted for the border the second you saw first light, I'd have never caught up and you'd have gotten away scot-free… So, why didn't you? C'mon, Burnsie, I've seen the way you look at her… Not that I blame ya or anything, but do you really expect me to believe you're just doing all this out of what…? The goodness of your heart?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," I said through gritted teeth.

" _Sure_ , ya don't Burnsie, sure ya don't," he replied with a hearty laugh, "Just like I don't know what you're talking about… But then again, you _are_ the great white knight of the Brotherhood after all, so I guess I shouldn't put it past you to be that stupid," he laughed again as he tossed me a moth-eaten blanket and headed for the door, but at the last moment he stopped and turned.

"Aw, c'mon now friend, don't look so glum! Try to think of it like this… You're alive, you're breathing, and you actually get to live another day! I'd call that a win in my book, of course, whether you manage to make it to the vault in one piece, now that remains to be seen. I know I'd just _hate_ to have to console poor Miss Astor over your untimely death…"

And with that, I nearly snapped.

"If you so much as lay one hand on her head, Hancock, I swear to God…"

"You'll what?" Hancock laughed, "You're not exactly in any position to threaten me Burnsie, besides, I have a feeling Miss Astor and I are going to be good, _good_ friends here soon enough, just you wait and see… In the meantime, I suggest you get some sleep. You're gonna need it."

And without another word, he shut the door and locked it behind him.

* * *

The night seemed to stretch on forever as I tossed and turned on that couch, every creak and sigh of the old place sending dark shivers down my spine. I didn't care if Hancock had given his word, I wasn't about to trust that bastard any farther than I could throw him. For all I knew, he could be hiding in the shadows right now, ready to slit my throat any second and run off with the girl for himself, never to be heard from again.

 _That is_ **not** _going to happen._ I thought firmly to myself, looking over towards Ilya's room for about the hundredth time, but even so, my eyes were growing weary, my aching body crying out for relief. I just had to think, there _had_ to be a way out of this one… If only we could sneak out of here, then maybe, just maybe, we could make our way to Bunker Hill or even Covenant, but even if they did take us in, they'd only protect us for so long if Hancock followed with an army at his back. Besides, I had already checked the exits a hundred times over and there was a guard posted at every single one, not to mention all the commotion from the other room that told me Hancock's good ol' boys were still partying well into the night.

The last thing I remembered was staring at the ceiling, counting the stars winking through the rafters above, when suddenly, I found myself standing back in front of the altar, the crowd screaming for my head once more. I spun around as I searched for Ilya, desperate to get her out of here as fast as I could, but she was nowhere to be found. The people in the stands threw rocks and broken bottles down upon me, their faces contorting into inhuman grimaces until they had become nothing more than a ravenous horde of feral ghouls. The creatures began to climb down from the balcony, starving for flesh, but before I knew it, I heard Ilya's scream echo from a door to my right and I raced after it without hesitation.

The hallway went from burnt wood to dirt and steel, and suddenly I was back in the mine, tunnels twisting and turning in a never-ending spiral down into the earth and towards Ilya's cries. The ferals had followed me down into the dark, always one step behind as they chased me through corridor after corridor. At last, I found myself in a large dark room filled with mechanical debris and quickly shut the door behind me.

I stumbled along the walls as I searched for a way out, the horde bound to break through any second, when my hand landed upon the hard metal of a large switch. I quickly flipped the handle and a light flickered on above me, revealing a sleek metal door covered in strange scientific symbols that I couldn't quite make out. It looked odd in this place, hidden in the dark depths of an ancient tunnel. And yet… I almost felt like I knew this door, like it was something from my past that I desperately needed to remember. I didn't know what lay beyond it, or why it was so important, but all I knew is that it contained all the answers to everything I had ever wanted to know.

I frantically yanked on the handle, but the door didn't budge. I searched the walls for an access panel or a computer terminal, but there was nothing. Nothing but a cold slab of steel in the way of the only thing I'd ever wanted.

I pounded against the metal, screaming at the top of my lungs as I demanded to be let in, but the sound only echoed into the endless dark. Suddenly, a sound startled me from behind and I spun around on my heels, the room much larger than I had remembered. As I hit the switch again, more lights began to flicker on around me, only to see that it was not debris on the ground at all, but synths. Hundreds of them. Piled high in a massive broken heap… and every last one was wearing my face.

I stumbled back, horrified as the creatures began to move, lurching towards me with their skeletal hands outstretched. My breath caught in my throat as my own face bore down on me, cold lifeless eyes staring through great cracks in their broken masks. At last, my back hit the wall behind me, giving way into a vast nothingness where I tumbled forever into a dark and endless void.

Suddenly, I woke up on the floor in a sea of sweat, my blanket wrapped around my legs as I struggled to get to my feet. Before I knew it, there was a knock on the door and one of Hancock's ghoulish goons walked inside, glaring down at me with a hard look on his face.

"Time to get up, jackass. Boss says you've slept in long enough and everyone's waiting in the main hall, so hurry the fuck up!" He barked the order before slamming the door behind him, leaving me to gather my things and my dignity before I headed across the hall to knock on Ilya's door. To my surprise, it fell open at the slightest touch and in an instant I feared the worst, whipping it open only to find the room empty, Ilya nowhere to be found. At first, I thought Hancock must have snatched her up in the night, but there was no sign of forced entry, no sign of a struggle. It was then that I saw a quickly scrawled note sitting next to the bed.

 _Jacob~_

 _I got up early this morning, but I didn't want to wake you. I've decided to help Mr. Hancock prepare for the journey ahead and will be back shortly. See you soon!_

 _~Ilya_

At the sight of those words, I felt a flash of fury rise in my chest.

Without another thought, I stormed out into the main hall, my heart hammering in my chest and my finger on the trigger as I scoured the room for any sign of the girl. The entire hall was bustling with activity as Hancock's men lugged supplies back and forth, building up a large pile around the altar. The men all glared daggers at me as I made my way across the room, the mood having soured significantly since last night, but I didn't care. If me keeping my head ruined your good time, then I was more than happy to disappoint. Besides, I had more important things on my mind right now.

 _What on earth was that girl thinking, going off on her own with these people?!_ I fumed silently to myself, _How could she be so damn foolish! I thought she had more sense than this…_

At last, I spotted Ilya through a group of Watchmen, her smile a sight for sore eyes even as I stood seething. She waved happily as she hurried her way over to me, calling out to me by name.

"Oh Jacob, there you are! I was starting to worry…"

"Ilya! What do you think you're doing?" I whispered angrily as I pulled the girl aside, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Well! A very good morning to you too, sunshine!" She huffed as she crossed her arms, "I can't tell you how _sorry_ I am that I thought you might like to sleep in after such a hard day, but you're right! I see now how very _selfish_ that was of me!" She added with a roll of her eyes.

"Look, I know you were skeptical about this at first, and honestly so was I! But now that I've seen how serious he is about helping me, everything he's willing to commit to the cause, I've just been blown away! For the first time Jacob, we have a real shot here! We really might be able to get through Nuka World and find this thing! By the way, that reminds me. You need to come and see this, it's incredible!" Ilya said as she grabbed me by the hand and led me onto the stage, where a large spread of supplies sat upon the altar. Not only was the table laden with weapons galore, from pistols to shotguns, lasers to grenades, but it was stacked high with all kinds of food the likes of which I hadn't seen in months, maybe years. Even I couldn't help but be a little impressed with it all, though I'd certainly never admit it out loud.

"Oh, and check this out! We've got a detailed map of the full park layout, complete with known raider hideouts and settlements; food, water, and ammo to last us _weeks_ ; and, get this, he even managed to score me some _Fancy Lads_ snack cakes! And they're not even irradiated, look!" She said as she held up the box with glee, "I told him they were my favorite as a kid… Looks like it's no more scrounging for us, eh 'Burnsie'?" She giggled playfully as my tempers began to flare.

"Dammit Ilya, did it ever occur to you that these people just might be dangerous?" I said as I grabbed her by the shoulders, "That Hancock might not be such a nice guy after all? They could have stolen you away in the night, never to be heard from again! You have to be more careful than this, Ilya!"

"Oh, stop it now Jacob, don't be so dramatic… Why, I'm perfectly fine!" she said as she pushed me away from her, "Besides, I don't think John would do something like that… He really isn't as bad as he seems, in fact, I'd say he's been nothing but helpful since we got here!"

"Ilya, you don't understand! They didn't just grab me for some kind of shakedown, hell, before you came on the scene, they were about to… Wait a minute, did you say 'John'? Who the hell is 'John'?" I stopped with a furrowed brow. We didn't know anyone by that name, no one I knew anyway. That was, unless…

"Why I do believe my ears are burning… Did someone say my name?" I heard the voice and spun around to see Hancock standing there, that smarmy yellow-toothed smile plastered wide over his ugly face. Nobody, and I mean _nobody,_ called Hancock 'John'. Just what the hell was going on here?

"Well, well, well… I was wondering when you'd finally show up, Burnsie! So nice of you to join us after we'd already finished with all the hard work, but I suppose better late than never, eh? I know we wouldn't want to accidentally leave you behind… Now wouldn't that just be a cryin' shame?" Hancock said as he threw me a pack of supplies and I growled in return.

"And where exactly have you been?" I snapped back as I inspected the bag, "Letting your goons do the heavy lifting while you take all the credit, I presume?"

"Me? Why I was just… ah… _persuading_ our dear friend here to be a bit more cooperative, he is our secret weapon, after all. He may have given me a little trouble at first, but I think he's got the message now. Ain't that right, buddy?"

"AHHG! How many times human, MY NAME NOT 'BUH-DEE!'" As soon as I heard that guttural growl, I spun around on the spot, just in time to see the super mutant called Strong appear from around the corner.

My jaw dropped at the sight of the beast, what was Hancock thinking?! There was just no way… We wouldn't make it a mile with that monster in tow, let alone manage all the way through Nuka World! Not only would that massive frame and booming voice get us caught in an instant, but if we so much as turned our backs on the beast, he'd be crushing our bones flat beneath the nearest boulder.

"Hancock, you can't be serious… You're actually going to bring this… this… thing?! I mean, are you _trying_ to get us killed? Besides, I thought we were just meeting with a friend of yours, not raising an army to storm his settlement! Is _this_ how you treat your friends?"

"Friend? _Friend?!_ " Hancock laughed as he shook his head, "There ain't no such thing as 'friends' out here in the Wasteland, Burnsie-boy! No, this fella we're meeting with is more of a, ah… business acquaintance, so to speak. He's the sort of high-class fella that just so happens to deal in the lowest common denominator, in other words, in people like me. And there's only one thing that people like me understand… And that's brute-fucking-force, so that's what we're gonna give 'em. With both barrels."

"Well, you certainly seem to have enough trust in these people to call _them_ your friends, and all I see are freaks, low-lives, and degenerates."

" _These people?_ " Hancock said with a scoff, "Why, _these people_ are not my "friends" at all, but my brothers and sisters… My family. In fact, I would trust them with my very life… Which is certainly more than can be said for you, eh Burnsie? But perhaps we should just call up the Brotherhood of Steel and see what they have to say about that… Shall we?"

"Wait, Brotherhood of Steel?" Ilya asked curiously, "What's that? I've never heard of them before."

"It's nothing," I snapped as fast as I could, but it was already too late as a dark smile spread wide across Hancock's hideous face.

"Oh, so you don't know, do you?" He said with the cock of his brow, "Well, imagine my shock…What else haven't you told her, Burnsie? Did you bother to mention that the world had ended, or did that happen to slip your mind as well?"

The heat rose to my face even as I seethed beneath the surface, but there was nothing I could do. Hancock had me over a barrel and he knew it, not only that, but he was enjoying every second. The breath hitched in my throat as I watched the wheels turning in his head, mulling over which would be more humiliating… telling the girl now, or holding it over my head for the next hundred miles? Ilya's eyes darted nervously between the two of us, a look of confusion on her face as the tension began to grow so thick you could almost cut it with a knife.

Just then, the door slammed open, the sound nearly startling me out of my own skin. I watched as Fahrenheit entered the room, a stern scowl on her battle-worn face. One look from her and just like that, the mighty Watchmen of Goodneighbor were scattering like cockroaches at the sight of a flame, back to their work without a word. As she approached the rest of us, she glared at me a thousand degrees colder than the iciest nuclear winter, and I could tell she was none too pleased with Hancock's decision to let me go, but she knew better than to question her almighty leader. As she leaned in to whisper into Hancock's ear, I could see a flash of anger ignite behind his jaundiced eyes.

"Is that so?" He said dangerously as he narrowed his eyes, "Well, if that's how he wants to play it, then that's fine with me… What time did you say the next performance was?"

"About thirty minutes, but that's just the matinee," the woman replied, "The main event is happening tonight around happy hour, giving us just enough time to get out of here and make our way across the city. If we leave right now, then we just might be able to make it."

"Well, I suppose that settles that!" The ghoul said as he turned back towards me once again, a smile on his face that told me our conversation was far, far from over. "Guess you've lucked out again, eh Burnsie? Keep this up and I just might make you my lucky charm!" He laughed as he slapped me across the back, nearly knocking me off my feet.

"All right men! You heard your commander, party time's over! Looks like we've got ourselves a show to catch…" Hancock barked the order and his men scrambled to attention.

"Show? What show?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Why none other than the best damn show this side of the Charles River! Well, except maybe the old Vault 114 whorehouse, boy that place used to be wild…" He trailed off with a wistful look of longing upon his face.

"Seriously Hancock, where are you taking us?" I insisted.

"What, and ruin the surprise? C'mon Burnsie, where's your sense of adventure?" He said with another grin, "Now, no more questions! We've got a long road ahead of us and not a lot of time, so let's roll out!" And with that, the men lined up behind him and Hancock lead them out of the church in formation, leaving Ilya and me speechless in his wake.

"This is complete madness…" I managed to say as I shook my head and turned to the girl, but she only shrugged.

"I don't know, Jacob, he really seems to know what he's doing," she replied before putting on her pack and holstering her own gun, "but then again, I had always wanted to go with Detective Valentine, so I'm just happy we actually have somebody willing to help us for once! I mean, I know he may be a bit rough around the edges, but how bad could he really be?" She added before running after the group, eager not to be left behind.

I stood in the vast empty hall alone, barely able to process everything that had just happened. My entire world had been flipped upside down, and worse yet, Ilya seemed blissfully unaware of the danger we were getting ourselves into. I looked around the cavernous room, the dust beginning to settle for the first time since I'd set foot across its threshold. I couldn't help it as another dark shiver rushed up my spine, how close had I really come to certain death? Even a moment too late and I would have been a goner, and these dark and empty halls would have been my last resting place for all eternity.

 _How bad could he really be?_ I heard Ilya's last words echo in my ears.

"If only you knew," I said to myself as I checked my gun and followed after her, "If only you knew."


	20. Ch 19: The Road to Ruin

**Chapter 19: The Road to Ruin**

* * *

The dense city blocks seemed to drag on forever as we moved slowly through the ruins of downtown Boston, but with a veritable army in tow, it was no surprise we were making such poor time. I truly hated this feeling… To be so exposed and out in the open like this, but hey, at least there was strength in numbers, even if those numbers would've taken my head if they could. That was at least one thing Hancock had gotten right, things might have been bad, but they could always get a whole lot worse…

Even as the thought was forming in my mind, a hard shove suddenly hit me from behind, catching me off guard and sending me face-first towards the ground. Before I knew it, I found myself lying in a puddle of thick irradiated sludge, a roar of laughter erupting all around me. As I wiped the grime from my eyes, I glared daggers at the blurry figure already disappearing back into the crowd.

"Smooth move, smooth-skin!" A ghoul's raspy voice called back as I got to my feet and shook my head, popping a rad-away for good measure. As if this whole arrangement wasn't bad enough, the entire mob seemed intent on making me suffer as much as possible. Not only was I under a constant barrage of back-handed attacks and thinly-veiled threats, but every time I turned around I would find a bullseye tacked to my back. Worse yet, I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ilya since the journey had begun. No doubt she was somewhere up ahead, being charmed by a certain colonial-clad ghoul that was filling her head with more ridiculous nonsense that would only get us killed, but no matter how hard I tried, the men just wouldn't let me through.

So it was an honest relief when we had finally stopped before the gates of Goodneighbor and the mass of men returned home, back to their lives of drug addiction and abject squalor, leaving only Hancock, Fahrenheit, Ilya, the mutant and myself to journey forth. Unfortunately for me, that relief was fast short-lived.

Though we may have been making better time, it was clear by the quickly changing surroundings that we were descending deeper into the dark heart of the Boston wilds, each neighborhood we saw getting uglier and more dangerous with every passing second. Before too long, the metallic song of groaning ruins and echoing winds were replaced by the constant crackle of gunfire and the smell of sulfur and blood. Even Fahrenheit was starting to look a bit nervous as she led the beast through the wreckage, her hawkish eyes on the constant lookout for any sign of danger. Hancock, on the other hand, seemed completely unconcerned. An animal in his own element, he maneuvered deftly through the labyrinthian alleyways without a sound, every passageway memorized from decades of a life on the run.

At last, we found ourselves traversing through the crumbling ruins of the once majestic theatre district, and though the grand gothic statues still glared down at us from atop the towering buildings, it was quickly becoming clear that this was no longer the center of high society it once was. No, the lure of the theatre seemed to attract a different kind of clientele these days… The kind usually reserved for a psych ward or police lock-up, well, back when those were a thing, anyway. Nowadays, they could be more commonly found shooting at you from a blown-out high rise, chem-fried out of their mind and wearing their mother's face as a mask.

Which could only mean one thing… _We were in raider country now._

And just like that, bringing along a little extra muscle didn't seem quite so crazy after all. Even as the mutant growled and gnawed at his chains, I'd bet my last bullet he was the only thing standing between us and a slow painful death right now. The raiders around us watched carefully as we walked through their territory, their eyes boring into the back of our heads as they sized us up, no doubt considering which spices would taste better with our roasted flesh.

Every now and again, I could hear the boldest among them hoot and holler in our direction, from colorful catcalls to vicious death threats, the scumbags sure knew how to get under your skin. It wasn't so bad at first, until the details started to get disturbingly graphic. I tried to push it all out of my mind, but thankfully, finally, we turned down one last street and found ourselves staring at the once famous Orpheum Theatre, the architectural dream of a gilded age master, now transformed into a modern day nightmare…

The place was lit up like a whorehouse in a New Vegas back alley, and it was just as loud too. Music blared through the thick wooden doors of the entrance, an occasional wave of cheers and hollers erupting from within. Harsh neon lights illuminated the dark street with an eerie red glow that only accentuated the human misery lying in the gutters, making the whole area feel even more hellish than it already did.

Drunken drifters and jet-lagged junkies stalked the street, always looking for an easy target for a quick hustle or shakedown. (They had a habit to feed after all…) Not only that, but on every corner there stood a scantily clad woman offering up her "services" to those still hanging out in the plaza, their pinstriped pimp looking on from the shadows with a fedora covering his scar-ridden face.

And there, above the entrance, was a bright flashing marquee, the headline "Skinny Malone's Combat Zone" written in what looked suspiciously like blood…

I stood there, dumbfounded. Barely able to speak. I may not have known what Hancock had meant when he said we were going to a show, but this definitely wasn't what I had in mind.

Ilya let out an audible gasp and pointed out a makeshift stage in front of the theatre where several people were tied to wooden posts and had burlap sacks over their heads, the words "RULE BREAKERS" painted in red behind them. Worse yet, none of them appeared to be moving.

"Hancock, what the hell kind of place _is_ this?" I said, no longer able to contain myself, "What are we even doing here?! We can't be seen in a place like this, we're like lambs at the slaughter out here!" I said as I wrapped my arm around Ilya's shoulder, the girl paler than death and visibly shaken.

"Aw, what's the matter, Burnsie?" He replied with a condescending smirk, "Ain't you never been to a real raider's den before? Never knew a Knight of the Brotherhood to be so scared of a few dirty scavvers, but then again, this _is_ you we're talking about… Honestly, how did you ever expect to make it through Nuka World without me?" He added with a smug smirk, and I couldn't help but wonder once again, if this was all just one elaborate trap.

"Oh c'mon now, don't give me that look," He said with a wave of his hand, "Do you really think I'd risk Miss Astor's safety just to teach you a lesson? I don't go writing checks my ass can't cash, Burnsie, unlike _some_ people I know… The truth is, these rat bastards ain't nothin' but talk. This is Malone's turf after all, and he's got turrets and sentinels set up all around this district. So believe me when I say these nut jobs all know their place 'round these parts," he added, spitting on the ground as he did, but I still wasn't convinced.

"I just think it would be safer if we-"

" _Listen,_ " he cut me off with a sigh, "Just stick close, follow my lead, and keep your damn mouth shut, got it? You manage that and everything will work out just fine… You have my word."

And with that, he grabbed ahold of the door handles and flung them wide open, the sound crashing through the theatre like a gunshot in the night.

* * *

The music stopped. The fight stopped. Everything stopped.

Everything, except the thundering of my heart in my ears.

From the moment Hancock had opened those doors, I knew we hadn't a chance in high-flying hell. As if we had walked right into an old west saloon, the record skipped, scratching to an abrupt halt as every eye in the joint slowly turned on us. Even the two fighters panting on the center stage stared dumbfounded at the spectacle standing in the doorway, not that I could blame them now that I thought about it…

 _So a ghoul, a super mutant, and a Brotherhood Knight all walk into a bar…_ I thought morbidly to myself. Sure sounded like the beginning of a bad joke if I had ever heard one, and judging by the looks on the local's faces, I wasn't sure I wanted to know how it ended.

Suddenly, one of the fighters broke free from his reverie and threw a devastating punch, catching his opponent off guard. The man's fist slammed into the other's skull, connecting with a sickening CRACK that sent him flying face-first into one of the caged arena's supporting metal posts.

THUMP

The man crumbled into a bloody heap on the stage floor, his head gashed open and knocked out into oblivion.

The room tensed. The whole crowd sat and stared at the hulk of a man now lying on the ground, their drug-addled brains barely able to process what had just happened. No one said a word, the room so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop…

Then, the room erupted into a sudden roar of whoops and hollers, the people jumping to their feet as they shouted with glee. They'd gambled big and won, and by the look on Hancock's face, that's exactly what he'd been hoping for.

And just like that, the mood eased. The music started up once again and the men returned to their drinks, counting their winnings as the stage was reset for the next match.

I followed Hancock as he stepped over the threshold, the raiders parting like the waters of the Red Sea as we made our way over to the bar, a rickety little shack slapped together down by the stage and stocked with some of the most irradiated booze I'd ever seen, all high enough proof to burn the balls off a bear…

Hancock ordered a drink from the surly-looking barkeep, who served it to him in a glass so filthy it made my skin crawl. Hancock, however, didn't seem to mind at all, chugging it down without a second thought and quickly ordering another. To my shock, he actually offered it to me with a yellow-toothed smile, but in an instant, my stomach turned sour. I shook my head furiously.

"Well, guess that just leaves more for me then!" He laughed at the look on my face, swallowing half the glass in one gulp before easing back into his chair, his beady eyes scouring the room for his contact. A part of me almost wanted to speak up, ask what the plan was and who we were waiting for, but before the words even left my mouth, he shook his head, a sharp warning to keep my mouth shut.

Suddenly, the voice of a woman startled me from behind, a voice so soft and sultry sweet I thought I must be hallucinating. How else could something so beautiful exist in such an ugly place as this?

" _John-nee?_ **_My_** _John-nee?_ Why, iz zat really you? Oh, it iz! It iz… _My John-nee…_ "

I spun around to find a beautiful woman standing there, wearing a magnificent red evening gown that seemed to cling to her every curve as she approached Hancock with outstretched arms. She took the man into a loving and familiar embrace before kissing each of his rotting cheeks with a European flair.

"Oh my _John-nee…_ " the woman said with a long deep sigh as she sat next to the ghoul, her eyes filled with longing as she leaned in to whisper more of that intoxicating accent into his ear.

"How long 'az eet been, darling? Far too long, I know zat much. Tell me, deed you come to listen to my next zet? I 'ave been working on a new song just for you, you know… Oh! Unless you are 'ere to take me back to Goodneighbor? Because, non! I cannot! Ze money, it iz too good here… Ze inspiration, too evocative! I could not possibly go now… Why, I do not think there is a _single_ thing you could do zat could convince me… Do you?" She asked with another breathy whisper as her fingers trailed down his chest.

I didn't know what to do. I felt like a deer caught in the headlights, unable to look away no matter how hard I tried. It wasn't just that it was uncomfortable, either… because honestly, it just didn't make any sense! This woman looked like she had walked right off of an Old World movie screen, with that long black hair, those dark dusky eyes, and god, those ruby-red lips… she was every Wastelander's wet dream. So what the hell was she doing here? Let alone fawning over a ghoul like Hancock. The man was one ugly son of a bitch, like all ghouls, you could easily mistake him for something scraped off the side of the road on a hot summer's day. And that was being generous…

To make matters worse, I was starting to get the feeling this wasn't just some cheap call girl, either. The more I thought about it, the more I started to think I'd seen this woman before, heard her sultry voice… In fact, I was sure of it. But where?

And that's when it clicked. This was none other than Magnolia Labelle, the biggest celebrity in the Commonwealth and possibly the most talented songstress in all the New World.

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it sooner. Most of the entertainment these days came from the same old records we'd all heard a million times before, maybe a little Bing Crosby here, a splash of The Ink Spots there, and on occasion you'd get lucky and hear some Dean Martin before they played that dang Wynonie Harris song about his grandma with a gambling problem. But few places were lucky enough to have an artist like Magnolia Labelle to give them something truly beautiful and new, something that actually spoke to the world as it was, and not how it used to be.

As if reading my mind, Hancock quickly flashed me a cocky grin that only I could see, daring a sly wink before returning to his usual devil-may-care attitude.

"Sorry, Mags, this here ain't a social visit," Hancock replied with an indifferent shrug, leaving this beautiful woman to pull back, a look of hurt in her eyes that almost left me wanting to pummel the prick into the ground. That was, until I watched that hurt turn into the most seductive pout I'd ever seen. It was then that I realized this was all just part of the game they were playing, just two strange lovers dancing in a deadly dive bar at the edge of civilization.

"Aw, now don't look at me like that, baby! You know me, any other day and I'd be converting you to Goodneighbor like a preacher trying to save your soul… But as it stands, I got business with the big boss, you understand? We had a meeting and I intend to keep it, even if he don't."

"Well, I suppose I might be _persuaded_ to help," the woman tried once more, but with one stern look from the ghoul's dark eyes, she relented with a deep sigh, "Oh, very well, but just so you know, 'e won't be very 'appy about it. Zat fight was _not_ supposed to go zat way. He will be none too pleased to 'ear he 'as to pay out so much to so many of these… _raider scum_ …" she added with a curl of her lip.

"Well, I suppose that's the price of dealing with dogs, eh? Just go ahead and let him know I'm here darlin', thanks," the man said, but Magnolia didn't move, hesitating as a cautious eye landed on the super mutant standing in the back.

"He… iz also not going to be very 'appy about ze mutant… situation. Perhaps if ze beast could only wait outsid-?"

"Nah, I don't think so. I'd rather keep him close, if ya don't mind," Hancock cut her off with a dismissive wave, "Now run along sweetheart, I ain't got all day…" And with that he turned his back to her, ignoring the look of hot indignation on her face.

" _Oh John-nee,_ why must you be so _cruel?_ " the woman cried out with all the drama befitting a true diva like herself.

" _Fine,_ " she conceded, "For you, _John-nee,_ I will do zis thing, but after you are done, you are to come and see me. I will not let you slip through my fingers once again, mon amour, I _want_ to see you again. Do you understand me?" She commanded with her hand on her hip, but Hancock gave her nothing more than a noncommittal shrug, leaving the woman to storm off in an angry huff.

Several minutes passed by and we eventually found ourselves easing into an old booze-stained table, with nothing to do but drink and wait. Fahrenheit, on the other hand, kept to herself in a dark corner as the crowd avoided her like the new plague, not that I could blame them or anything. Every now and again, the room would rumble with a guttural growl as the beast would gnaw at his chains, roaring out whenever someone would venture too close, just in case they didn't know how badly he wanted to bash their brains in. Super mutants hated humans. Simply hated them. In their twisted, miserable minds, super mutants were the master race, the one true inheritors of the Wasteland as only _they_ were created to withstand its nature. He growled again, this time as his beady black eyes shot towards Fahrenheit, the controller to his collar and the key to his freedom in her hands.

We continued to sit quietly for what seemed like forever, Hancock greeting a few people here and there even as Ilya kept her head down and her mouth shut, not having spoken a word since we'd arrived. I could only hope this meant the girl was starting to rethink this whole 'Nuka World' thing after all. Lord knew I wouldn't mind that change of heart right about now…

As Hancock drained the last of what had to be his fourth or fifth beer, I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to what happened only moments ago. Magnolia Labelle… _The_ Magnolia Labelle… I mean, how the hell does something like that even happen? What the hell does _he_ got to offer a celebrity like her that she can't get from someone with more money, more power, and better looks? It just didn't add up, none of it did. I snuck another look at Hancock from the corner of my eye, the booze running down his radiation scars like rivers in a canyon and I shuddered in disgust. I mean, how could anyone, let alone a famous and beautiful singer like Magnolia Labelle, be attracted to… _that?_

It had to be some sort of trick, it just had to be. He probably paid her to put on the act, just to boost his own ego and put me on edge. As if a _thing_ like that could ever have a chance with her, or any woman for that matter. Yeah, that was it. Had to be. There was just no other explanation, and Magnolia _was_ a performer, after all.

 _But then again…_ said an obnoxious little voice in my head _,_ _He certainly did seem to have charmed over Ilya awfully fast. She was only just now starting to trust me and_ ** _I'm_** _the one that broke her out of the vault!_

No, I had to stop that. This was exactly what Hancock wanted, to get in my head and make me second guess myself. There was a difference between him and me and that was _he_ was willing to tell her anything she wanted to hear, whereas I told her the truth from the very beginning. It made sense that someone as naive as Ilya would make the mistake of trusting a filthy snake in the grass like _him._

"You got something to say there, Burnsie?" Hancock asked as he stared me in the face, snapping me back to reality as I realized how long I must have been glaring at the man.

"Oh! Er, no not really… It's just, uh, well," I hesitated for a moment, struggling to find the right words, "I was wondering… How _did_ you and Miss Labelle meet exactly?"

In an instant, I knew I had made a mistake. His eyes narrowed with glee as a wide smile tugged his mouth into a toothy, self-satisfied grin as he readied to pounce.

 _Oh, why can't I ever keep my damn mouth shut?_ I lamented silently to myself, knowing exactly where this was going.

"What's the matter, Burnsie?" He sneered with a smile, "Don't tell me you're feeling jealous of an ugly old ghoul like me? Or maybe you just ain't so sure of yourself now that you know who you're up against? …Oh, now I get it! You're hoping I can give you some pointers, is that it? Sorry, don't know if I can help you in that department, after all, from what I hear your last relationship kind of _crashed and burned,_ now didn't it? HA!"

"Oh just forget it…" I deflected, but he wasn't about to let me off that easy.

"Aw c'mon, Burnsie!" He prodded some more, "Don't be like that, I mean, I can at least _try_ to give you some advice. Like, say you're out on a date with your favorite gal, or fella, you know I ain't one to judge, Burnsie-boy," he added with a wink, "but I'd avoid going anywhere too _stimulating._ You know, no gun ranges, nuclear silos, or high-flying combustible blimps… We just wouldn't want you to get too excited and set off a _pre-emptive strike,_ if you get my meaning. There ain't nothing worse than unwanted friendly-fire, after all…

I groaned as Hancock laughed again, several nearby raiders joining in the chorus. I guess Goodneighbor wasn't the only dump to get a copy of Piper's "Special Edition" after all…

I sighed. Figures. All of civilization sees me as a laughing stock, so why wouldn't I be one out here in the wild too?

"Oh, and don't forget the time-" He started again, but I slammed my fists onto the table, startling Ilya out of her daze as I did.

"Alright! Alright!" I yelled, giving him the very reaction he'd been looking for all along, "I get it, goddamnit… Sheesh, I'm sorry I even asked."

I couldn't have been more thankful when at last, Magnolia finally appeared again and approached our table, a frown on her face and her hand on her hip.

"Tell me the good news, sweetheart," Hancock smiled at Magnolia and she sighed.

"Eet wasn't 'eezy, darling, I must tell you. He was quite upset, but I 'ave convinced him to 'ear you out, _however,_ he must insist zat ze beast stay exactly where he iz, as he absolutely will NOT 'ave zat _thing_ in 'is office. His words, darling, not mine. I 'ope you understand."

"Fine enough, doll-face, just lead the way," he replied with another smile and the three of us got up and followed the woman across the room, leaving Fahrenheit to watch over the mutant in the meantime. We weaved in and out of the bustling crowd, the place even more packed now than when we had first arrived (if that was even possible), and eventually, we were led towards a small hallway off to the side of the theatre with a small seating area and a large pair of wooden doors. Hancock rushed to open them first, ushering both Ilya and Magnolia inside before himself, an unusually gentlemanly gesture, at least, so I thought. As soon as Ilya was out of sight, I watched him grab a firm hold of Miss Labelle's derrière, eliciting a squeal of delight from the love-stricken woman.

Hancock looked back at me for a moment and gave another wry wink before walking inside, leaving me alone in the empty hall.

I did my best to shake it all from my mind. After all, there were much more important things to worry about right now, like finding a way into Nuka World without losing our heads and keeping that mad Director off our trail. Besides, there was no real reason to worry about Ilya with Hancock. She may have been a naive little fool right straight out of the dark ages, but I had faith that she was still smart enough to see past Hancock's grade of bullshit. She just needed a little more time to see it.

Even so, as I reached for the door handle I could still hear Hancock's words echoing back from the other night, just as clear yet even more confident than before.

 _I have a feeling Miss Astor and I are going to be good, good friends soon enough, just you wait and see, Burnsie, just you wait and see…_


	21. Ch 20: Friends in Low Places (Part 1)

So once again, the size of this chapter has gotten away from me, which is why I haven't posted for a while. So I've had to cut it into a couple pieces to make it more manageable. Expect the next part of this chapter very soon as it's mostly written, I just have to fix up where I cut it and give it a good once over and it will be out. This chapter should come to a combined 4,500 words (maybe more) when all is said and done.

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Friends in Low Places (Part 1)  
**

As I entered the office, I couldn't help but notice how much nicer it looked than the rest of the theatre, not that that was saying much, but at least it had managed to retain some of its Old World charm. The walls were covered in a dark rosewood paneling, the floor made of a faded parquet pattern that creaked beneath our feet. In the center of the room sat a mahogany desk, a beautiful but broken chandelier hanging just above it, and off in the corner I could just barely make out several stacks of boxes marked "Diamond City", as well as a small table covered in counterfeit caps and chems. Whoever this Malone fella was, it seemed he had one well-oiled operation going on, even if it _was_ teetering here on the edge of hell.

Just then, the door slammed open, a large muscular man wearing a well-pressed suit came storming in with a furious look on his face. He walked around the desk and slammed his fist down hard.

"Unbelievable!" The man bellowed and I jumped in my seat.

"What the hell kinda game do you think you're playin' at here, Hancock? Bustin' up my joint like this during the BIGGEST show of the year… Do you honestly have ANY idea how many caps you just lost me? Well? DO YOU?!" The man roared as he slammed his fist down again.

"I think I got an idea…" Hancock said casually as he eased himself into one of the plush leather chairs, "Maybe next time you'll remember to keep your appointments, eh? A man don't back out of a meeting last minute, you know…"

"Didn't that trussed-up tart of yours tell you I was busy? Things come up! It happens!" The man hollered again, his face swelling up like a ripe tomato, "What right does that give you to bust in here like this? Let alone with a goddamn super mutant in tow! Jesus Christ, I'm going to be out a week's worth of winnings for this… Ooh, I swear, you'd just better be glad I owe you one, or else I'd… I'd…!" Malone trailed off as he wrung his hands in the air, breaking an invisible neck as the vein on his temple threatened to burst. At last, the man collapsed into his chair with an exasperated huff, staring off into space as he shook his head with a somber grimace.

"You know, crime in the Commonwealth used to have a little class, a little _refinement_ to it," he sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow, "Now it's all gone to hell. Can't have organized crime without an organized society, you know what I'm saying? Ah, maybe I'm just getting old. Losing my edge… Vault 114 was a big blow to me, Hancock. Huge. I knew I should have just killed that damn detective when I had the chance, and it's only because you helped me get back on my feet that I ain't shooting you down right now, so out with it. What the hell do you want?"

"Funny you should mention ol' Vault 114… 'cause I'd like to call in that very favor," Hancock said, and Malone scoffed as he shook his head.

"And _that's_ how you go about asking? You've got some nerve, Hancock-"

"Now don't you go writing me off just yet, Malone. It ain't a big favor after all, and I do plan on paying you, in a manner of speaking… So just give me a chance, yeah?"

The man shook his head, chuckling quietly to himself as he leaned back into his chair with a sort of bemused look on his face. As the wheels turned in his head, his black beady eyes suddenly met mine, his face contorting into an ugly grimace as he looked me up and down in silent judgment. I felt a pit form in my stomach, terrified he might recognize me and sour the whole deal, when his gaze shifted towards Ilya and his expression softened, the sight of a genuine Vault-Tec insignia enough to turn his head. A light flashed behind those eyes and he perked up, suddenly a lot more interested as he leaned forward with an eager smile.

"Well now, I suppose it couldn't hurt to hear you out… What have you got for me this time, Hancock?"

"Ha, that's the spirit!" Hancock laughed as he slapped his hands together in excitement, "Speaking of spirits, you mind if we have a few? I've never been one to discuss business sober, so I'd take more of that Gwinnett Ale if you got it."

"Ah, yes, yes… I think a round of drinks for the whole room would do nicely. Magnolia, dear? Would you be so kind as to fetch us something to drink? No, no, not the watered-down swill from out there, here, take the key and get the good stuff from the cupboard upstairs. Oh and please hit the radio on your way up… Thanks love," the man said with a simpering smile as he watched Magnolia sashay up the stairs before turning back towards Hancock.

"So, this must be quite the job, can't say I ever saw you this confident before. It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a vault, now would it?" Malone asked with a sly smile, but Hancock shook his head.

"Afraid not," he lied smoothly, "But let's just say that me and my associates here got ourselves a right interesting business opportunity. One that'll not only put ol' Goodneighbor on the map, but will open up all kinds of avenues for the entire Commonwealth to enjoy… Now, I can't say too much about it so soon, but if this baby pans out, well, let's just say we'll be "swimming in the green," as the old saying goes. The only problem is, it takes us into some pretty hostile territory, and worse yet, we ain't got no way into the joint… Now, you, being the well-connected man of class you are, just might be our only ticket inside. You help us, and I'll make you the richest son-of-a-bitch this side of Appalachia."

"Hmmm," Malone said with a scowled, not exactly convinced, "And how _exactly_ do you plan on doing that?"

"Glad you asked, Skinny ol' boy, glad you asked! Tell me, how's business been since you took over?"

"Is that supposed to be a joke? Just take a look around… How the hell do you think it's going, asshole?" Malone snapped back with an angry glare, "Between security, prize money, and the constant repairs, I'm bleeding caps into the red worse than a stuck pig! Makes me wonder why I ever bought this dump in the first place…"

"Well, of course you're having trouble, you ain't thinking like a scavver!" Hancock said with a salesman's smile, "In fact, you got a whole untapped market here just _dying_ to hand over their caps. Now don't give me that look, it's the truth! Just think about it… You got all these men jacked up on booze, chems, and testosterone hanging out here on the fringes of society, with no home, no family, and no purpose… Now don't get me wrong, everybody enjoys a good old-fashioned donnybrook, but these fellas? They want blood. They want carnage. They want… death."

"What the hell are you suggesting?!" Malone said, taken aback, "I can't start hosting deathmatches, there's enough bad blood among these savages already! The last thing I need is to start giving them reason to act on their vendettas!"

"Nah, Malone, my man, you got it all wrong! I ain't talking about killing nobody, well… Nobody human anyway… Tell me, what do you think of that fine specimen of a super mutant I got out there, eh?"

"I think it's an ungodly abomination against man and nature that has no place in civilized society…"

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong!" Hancock laughed with a wave of his hand, "But just think about it… A weekly Creature Feature pitting two of the Wasteland's most vicious monsters against one another in a battle to the death! Now, _that's_ a show I'd pay to see. Hell, I'd even shell out a few extra caps to reinforce the cage and expand the seating. You supply the venue and I supply the merchandise, we split the profits 50/50. So, whaddya say, Malone? Is it a deal?"

"Hmm…" Malone said as he thought, "That is interesting… isn't it? Yeah, yeah, you know what? I like it. A "Creature Feature", huh? I might have to put that on the posters. But then, what was it you needed from me? You've yet to explain that part of this little plan of yours…"

"Oh, it's just a small thing, tiny really… practically nothing. Why, you won't even have to lift a finger! All we need is the location of that secret little passage of yours, you know the one… Where you move all your merchandise in and out of Nuka World?"

"Nuka World!" The man bellowed as his face turned that deep shade of red once more, "Now hold on just a damn minute, you didn't say nothing about no Nuka World! That passage is MY property. I found it, I protected it, and I'M the one that will benefit from it! I worked my hands to the bones to get the trade deals I have, and if you think I'm about to let you go in and undercut all my business, then you've got another thing coming!"

"Actually…" Hancock said, "I was hoping you could get us inside _without_ alerting the locals. As far from Nuka-Town Market as possible, in fact…" Malone stopped and cocked his head, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Why?" The man said slowly, "What do you know?"

"Maybe something, maybe nothing. It's hard to say right now, but I got a good lead, I can tell you that much," Hancock replied with a coy grin.

"Goddammit Hancock, I know that look! You DO have something, don't you? Oh, don't you dare try to cut me out of this one... You better come clean, right now!"

"Sorry Skinny ol' boy, I just can't say right yet. It's all just a hunch, yeah? I don't have all the facts, don't got all the pieces in place. There're just too many ways for this job to go under for me to let you in right now, but this thing between you and me? I've given instructions to Fahrenheit to honor the deal whether I come out of that park or not. No matter what, you'll be taken care of, my friend. You have my word."

"Bah! You greedy, lyin' son of a… Fine," Malone growled through gritted teeth, "You drive a hard bargain, Hancock, but you've got yourself a deal. Now, then! Why don't we celebrate our newfound partnership with a drink, eh? Speaking of, where has that silly woman run off to? She should have been back by now…" He trailed off as he checked his watch, but Hancock shook his head.

"As much as I'd like to, we really better get going," he said as he rose to his feet, "It's getting late after all and we have a long journey ahead, so if we could just get that location off of you…"

"What? No, you can't leave yet!" The man blurted out, taking us all aback, "Er, what I mean to say is that we haven't finished going over all the details yet! Transportation, storage facilities, renovation plans… You know, that sort of thing. Besides, it's not safe to go off through raider country after dark, and Nuka World is a hell of a long ways away, so why not just stay here for the night? I have a couple of spare rooms your friends can rest in, while you and I discuss the particulars over some fine cognac…"

 _Oh great, just what I wanted,_ I sighed to myself, _More quality time at the Craphole Motel, as if we hadn't wasted enough time here already…_ I grumbled under my breath as I grabbed my pack and started for the stairs, but Hancock reached out his arm and stopped me in my tracks. I shot him an annoyed glare, but he wasn't even looking at me. His eyes were set dead ahead, that eager smile straining the muscles in his face as he took a cautious step forward.

"Why that's mighty generous of you Malone, can't say I remember the last time you were this accommodating. And here I thought you'd be mad…"

"Ah, well… I just figured if we're going to be partners then we'd better get it started off right," Malone said with a wide smile, but Hancock shook his head.

"No really, Skinny, that's a hell of a nice gesture coming from you. What was it you said the last time I was here? That you'd sooner "drink a flaming bottle of Abraxo" than allow me to stay under your roof? Weren't those your exact words?"

"Oh, th-that?" Malone stumbled over himself, dabbing at the moisture on his forehead with an old handkerchief, "I was upset was all, just overreacting. Why, thinking back on it, I can't even remember what we were fighting about! It's all water under the bridge now, anyway, so I say we let bygones be bygones, and focus on our future… together!"

Hancock paused for a moment, the expression on his face unreadable as the gears turned in his head. At last, he seemed to make a decision, another smile stretching wide as he approached Malone with an outstretched hand.

"So, it's a deal then?" Malone said jovially as he jumped to his feet, "Wonderful! Fabulous! I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear you say that. Oh, you're making the right decision Hancock, I promise you that."

"Oh, I know, Malone, I know, I just have one last question, old friend…"

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Do you remember what I said to you that night at the Vault?" Hancock asked, and Malone stumbled back.

"Er… Well, it was such a long time ago, I don't really remember-"

"I told you not to break my fucking heart," Hancock snapped coldly, and without another word, he fired his pistol with a resounding BANG.

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To be continued...


End file.
